site.btaBolhrad Tourist Centre Highlights Bessarabian Custom of Trifon Zarezan

The Tourist Information Center in Bolhrad, Ukraine, has familiarized its social media followers with the history and traditions of the first festival of the year Trifon Zarezan. This transpired from a Facebook post.

According to the post, the festival is organized annually on February 14 in the Bolhrad region, and its first edition was in 2018. "This is a ritual celebration of vine-growers, associated with the end of winter and the beginning of the agricultural season. Traditionally, on this day, the ritual pruning of vineyards is performed, and the branches are watered with wine so that the harvest will be rich in the autumn," the Centre said.

It recalls that the tradition of vine pruning has ancient roots and was brought to Bessarabia by Bulgarian settlers 200 years ago. "As early as the 7th century, the ancestors of the modern Bulgarians, who settled in the northeastern part of the Balkan Peninsula, adopted the Thracian traditions of viticulture and winemaking. Later, pagan rites became intertwined with the veneration of St. Tryphon, the patron saint of vine-growers," the Centre explains.

According to the Centre's team, the religious feast coincides with the beginning of agricultural activities and therefore in folk beliefs it is associated with viticulture.