The six gods of wine, revered In the Bulgarian lands over the years will meet on February 4 in the village Ilindentsi, Stroumyani. For the 25th consecutive year, the village will gather guests from near and far away to celebrate the feast of the grape elixir. In the celebration will participate, Phrygian god of wine Sabazius, the Thracian Zagrey, the Greek Dionysus, the Roman Bacchus, the Slavic Yarilo and the Christian St. Tryphon.
The gods will take part in the ritual “Rozalii” in which a wine is poured wine on a fire. Depending on the height of the flame the locals predict whether the year will be fruitful and successful. The six gods will meet at 10.30 a.m. in the vineyards of the area Masovets. There they will conduct the ritual cutting of the vineyard.
Together with the Gods will participate in the ritual the girl from a local legend Keraca which gave the name of the famous regional local white wine variety Keratsuda. She will pour wine on the vineyards during the ritual. The celebration will continue at 1 p.m. in the square of the village Ilindentsi with rewarding the roducers of the best white and red wines. And the election of the King of the wine.
For all the guests is provided free wine Keratsuda. The traditional regional white variety was brought before a century ago in the region by refugees from Aegean Macedonia. On the holiday you can taste also local specialties. The guests will enjoy the performances of folklore ensemble “Ograzhden Four”, “Rusalka” a orchestra and folk ensemble “Malashevtsi.”