International holidays - Spring Festival congratulate →

The Day of the Arrival of Spring is a holiday that is celebrated today in countries such as Belarus, Moldova, Romania and Bulgaria. Traditionally celebrated on March 1st. The holiday has nothing to do with Christian traditions; its roots originate in the ancient legend about Spring. An ancient legend tells contemporaries about how the Sun, in the form of a beautiful girl, descended to earth to have fun and dance beautifully. But the insidious and evil Serpent stole the girl; all people forgot what joy is, the birds stopped singing, despondency filled everything. That was until one daredevil decided to save the Sun Girl. After a long search, the brave young man found the Serpent's palace and challenged him to a duel, as a result of which victory over the kidnapper was achieved. The sun rose in the sky again, and the world around came to life, everything began to bloom and smell fragrant. But the guy was injured in battle, and now his blood was dripping onto the snow. Legend has it that after the heroic death of the young man, in the place where the snow melted, beautiful white flowers began to grow, the harbingers of spring - snowdrops. And next to them were flowers, the petals of which were covered with spots as red as blood. Now March 1st symbolizes the arrival of light and life in frozen nature. In Belarus, the holiday is called Gukanne Viasny, which can be translated as inviting spring to the earth. Even before the advent of Christianity in these territories, people believed in various field and forest spirits, and the cult of plants was popular among them. Then it was important to notice the change in weather in time and determine the arrival of early or late spring, the latter bringing famine. Men and women sang songs, danced, wished each other a good harvest and good health, thus rejoicing, welcoming warm days and glorifying love, nature, marriage, and life in general. After a long period of oblivion, the tradition of the Festival of the Arrival of Spring began to be revived in Belarus in the 1990s. Today the holiday is widespread in the country, prepared celebrations are carried out in both children's and adult groups. In Moldova, this holiday is called Martisor. In the first days of March, people give each other small flower-shaped boutonnieres, removing them from their clothes only on March 31st and hanging them on trees. The holiday also has its origins in a legend that tells of Spring's kindness to flowers and victory over Winter. Bulgarians make Martenitsa: on the eve of the holiday, women tie a silver or gold coin to a woolen thread, which must be worn for up to 25 days, and then it is either hidden under a stone or thrown into the river. In ancient times, people used such martenitsas to tell fortunes. As in Moldova, the Day of the Beginning of Spring in Bulgaria is called Martisor: people give each other a white and red decoration, which, after wearing on their chest for a month, is tied to a flowering fruit tree. The origins of Martisor are closely intertwined with the legend of the Sun and the Snake. In all these countries, the Spring Festival symbolizes new hope, light, prosperity and love, everything that is bright in human life.