Pivo Fest

Pivo Fest is the biggest celebration that Prilep hosts each year.  It is usually a four-day event that takes place in the middle of July.  Highlighted during this event is skara (grilled meat/ BBQ), live music, and of course, beer.  One may compare this to Oktoberfest, but even though the beer flows cheaply, the choices are still limited.  For many, it did not matter about the diversity of beers, because Skopsko outdid Prilep this year by selling 6 beers for 4 Euros.  That rebate in itself led to many people’s shameful downfall.

In regards to the live acts, it was surprising how diverse the musical performances were.  Many of the stars from Adrian X Factor, including the Macedonian winner, Daniel Kajmakoski, the runner-up, Maid, and the ever-so-beautiful judge, Emina Jahovic, were highlights.  Many of the other singers were Yugoslavia-era folk singers, hired to appeal to the older generations.  Lucky for us, there was even an American ska band that played on Thursday night!  (If you want to find out more about the event, feel free to visit its official website at http://www.pivofestival.mk)

Now, over the four days that Pivo Fest took place, Thursday was my favorite.  It is estimated that over 100,000 people come to Prilep to enjoy the festival, but hardly any of these visitors came to Pivo Fest on Thursday.  Therefore, the streets were empty, lines for beer and meat were short, and it was easy to run into many of my local friends during that night.  Only three guests stayed by me on Thursday- Kelly, her friend from the States, and Jake.  We enjoyed a quick game of beer pong before descending into the center.  While I missed Daniel’s perform, I really enjoyed the Ukrainian DJ.  Listening to live EDM played in the main square of my town felt like somebody dropped an EDM festival onto my site.  All of my friends, and even my host brother from Poland, gathered in a circle, and many of us enjoyed dancing the night away until 3AM.  It was such a fun night that even Jake danced (and he usually never dances).

Ready for the grilled meat

Daniel Kajmakoski singing!

Some of Prilep's EVS volunteers

Listing to EDM with my host brother

 

EDM Artist from Ukraine

Friday was the dreaded day when everyone would arrive at my place.  I really looked forward to seeing everybody, but I definitely take hosting seriously.  Most people arrived while we were in the center enjoying some delicious skara.  Prilep is supposedly famous for its grilled meat, and according to Terri, an RPCV who recently left Prilep, the first two days are best for enjoying skara.  The meat tastes noticeably worse on Saturday and Sunday because many of the stands that cook meat have no refrigerators to store them properly.  After eating some grilled chicken on a Saturday, it became evident that she was speaking the truth.

Saturday started out slow, but Emily and I quickly switched into gears to cook breakfast for everyone staying at my place.  Due to some generous bed-sharing, only two of nine people were forced to sleep on the ground on Friday night.  After we digested our food, a few headed to the pool while Emily, Jake, Dave, and I went for a quick run.  We all then headed to the center where we enjoyed the newly opened Turkish Doner place.  It was secluded and empty, so the restaurant served as our respite before we dived head first into another night of Pivo Fest.  We kept ordering the Turkish teas, which surprisingly had a high level of caffeine.  After downing three Turkish teas, Jake, Dave, and I had the bright idea to share a bottle of rakija, chasing it with heavily caffeinated beverages.  Spoiler Alert! The night ended fine, and we were actually more sober than we thought we would be.

Main street lined with Pivo Fest

So much skara!!!

And beer!

YMLP Reunion- Yellow, White, and Black Counselors

Enjoying Turkish Tea at the Doner Place

Ready for our night of rakija

Some of Prilep's volunteers

Just before sunset, we met the other volunteers in the center, and as large groups do, just stood around and talked.  Many decided to partake in bumper cars or other carnival rides.  Eventually, I became tired and disgruntled, and hoping to shake some of my inebriety off, urged others to go to the concert to listen to music and dance.  Nobody was interested, so Brian, Emily, and I decided to go home, eat some burek, maybe have a mini dance party, and then go to bed.  With this plan, I would be able to end the Saturday night of Pivo Fest peacefully and early.

All of that changed when I received a call from the PCV from Kochani who was staying by me.  He happened to run into EVS volunteers working in his town (originally from Turkey) who were in Prilep for the festival.  They mentioned to him that their plans for lodging had fallen through in the last minute, so they asked his permission to stay by my place.  At first I conceded, but since it was 2AM and I worried about my host family, I called him back and told him that there was no way I would let strangers into my host family’s home at 2AM.  He indicated understanding and hung up the phone.

Just as Emily, Brian, and I had finished eating our bureks and were ready for bed, 6 Turkish volunteers and 5 of the other PCVs who were staying at my place showed up at my front door.  Still intoxicated from drinking all day, prepared to fall asleep, and now angry and disappointed in my friend, I tried my best to come up with a solution.  There was no way that I could turn away guests that were at my (or my host family’s) front door, but there was also a limited amount of space in which they could sleep.  My mind instantly started running different configurations where to place people, and at one point I told the Turkish girls (they were all girls except for one guy) that one of them would have to sleep with a certain male PCV volunteer (not me, I am not that smooth).  In response to my answer, they stared back at me in reluctance, which is understandable because that was not a reasonable request.  I also was not sure if being a good host meant offering them alcohol, and at one point accidentally offered them olive oil since we exhausted most of my stock the night before.  It became evident I did not have the state of mind nor the patience to deal with this problem properly.

Eventually things worked out as two PCVs slept on the balcony and three or four of the Turkish girls managed to fit on a twin-sized bed (even though they were twenty years old, they looked like they were fourteen, which makes it even creepier that my friend brought them back to my place).  Morning came around, and as we woke from the confusion of the night before, we laughed at a story that was humorous in retrospect.  By mid-afternoon, all of the PCVs had left my apartment, and I scoured my apartment to rid it of Pivo Fest’s lingering existence.

Sunday was the last day of the festival, so Husted and I joined Prilep’s EVS volunteers in the center to see Maid and Emina sing.  It was a very sober, yet pleasant outing, but it was not as exciting as the preceding three days.  After waiting for and catching a glimpse of Emina sing, my task was fulfilled, and I returned home.

As this post shows, Pivo Fest is definitely a unique experience in Peace Corps Macedonia.  In the end, I had worried for months about hosting Pivo Fest, but many of the memories that we shared over these days make up for any stress I may have incurred.