By February 15th, any child or young person under the age of 18 years will be eligible to participate in the competition of the Open-air Ethnography Museum Etara for making „gaitan” martenitsi (typical handmade adornments carried at the beginning of the spring). The winners will be evaluated for the originality of the idea, the precise work, and the complexity of the workmanship.

The names of the winners will be announced on March 1st. A charity exhibition will be organized on March 5 with the artists’ products. Perhaps you think that every knitted strip can be called „gaitan”, but it turns out that the old Bulgarian handicraft for the production of colored wool products has its own rules.

From Etara give advice on how to know what is a gaitan. First of all, it is made of wool and has a flat base and a round surface. The number of threads is usually 12, but can also be 7.8 or 10. The technology is made of the 19th century. Sewing on the braids, many beautiful clothing decorations were made and used for both the garments of the ladies and the garments.