At unusual time are played the Kukeri Games in the village of Lesnovo, Elin Pelin. While this is happening all over Bulgaria, either in the early days of the New Year or in the days around the Sirni Zagovesi holiday, in Lesnovo, the mummers tour the houses of the village and go to the square on the 6th and 7th of January. /Kukers are men who have the aim to chase the evil from their homes by dressing in scary clothes with masks. Their dance with bells and music is a typical tradition in Bulgaria/ The name of fthe local mummers – devents comes from the Turkish word for camel.
According to the tradition, during the two days, the main group for the holiday, made up of youths who reach the age of majority in the coming year, walks through the homes of the people of Lesnovo to chase the evil. The boys are dressed as people participating in a typical traditional wedding from the region. One of the young men is dressed as a bride in a costume. In the procession beside a bridegroom and brother-in-law necessarily include a donkey with saddlebags and his guide.
The band is accompanied by a bagpipe that plays a specific melody that is characteristic of the holiday. The young people have a drummer. The devents are donated at every home with mulled wine, grated brandy, bacon and bread for the donkey and his guide. After circling the houses around noon on January 7, the band gathered together in the square with the other masked men in the village. On the meadow, there is also a bear with a plow and people in a variety of costumes. They dance the typical Bulgarian horo and have fun until late in the evening.
