On Sunday, July 13, many of us from Prilep rented a kombi in
order to enjoy the Galichnik Wedding festival in Mavrovo National Park. Many of us had heard that this festival is a
must-see in Macedonia, and I was excited that I would be able to knock another
to-do off my summer list (though I technically did not camp in Mavrovo, I was
happy to visit Macedonia’s largest national park).
This festival preserves the traditional ways of Macedonian
weddings. Macedonian couples from all
over Macedonia apply to have their wedding in this traditional way, even though
it is publicly displayed to tourists and national media. This year, two couples were awarded the honor
of being wed thus, and so their families and friends joined them at this
festival, dressed in traditional clothing, to experience this
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
We left Prilep at 5AM on Sunday morning to take the long
cruise to Western Macedonia. Once we
started to travel through the park, we ascended past the tree line, and it felt
like I was in Montana on my way to Yellowstone National Park. As soon as we arrived in the small village
near Lake Mavrovo, we walked about a mile before we descended into the center
of the village. I had read online that
Galichnik is a village with only one resident, which is an elderly woman. However, as we walked through the village, it
was evident that that rumor was not true, since many of the houses seemed
recently renovated. The town was filled
with tourists from within and from outside Macedonia. We all explored the church, and then found a
seat in the adjacent amphitheater to watch the ceremony.
It all began at 10AM when the two grooms were joined by
their families in the center. Returning
from the cemetery to commemorate their dead relatives, they shave the groom
publicly in front of the amphitheater, and then the families go to the “brides’
houses” to ultimately ask for the bride’s hand in marriage. After permissions are given, presents are
exchanged, rugs are spread out, and the couples and their friends are
splattered with leaves of basil soaked in water, they make their way to the
church to finally tie the knot. Like all
great things in Macedonia, the ceremony ended with a traditional dance.
I felt happy to witness such an important part of Macedonian
history through this ceremony. Honestly,
before I arrived, I thought that the festival would be more “inclusive,” with a
wedding buffet available for purchase by tourists, and with dancing all over
the village. Instead, this ceremony
really focused on and preserved the traditional way these couples were married,
and thus the ceremony kept changing locations all over the town. Eventually, I got tired of following the
wedding party and decided to just enjoy a beer and salad with a few others from
our group in the center. However, after
the ceremony ended, we enjoyed a great meal in Kicevo.
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Dolls dressed in the wedding costumes |
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Mavrovo National Park |
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Crowds waiting for the festival to begin |
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Grooms about to be shaved |
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A lot of back-and-forth proceeding |
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Meal at a restaurant in Kicevo |
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