Frights on Parade

Continuing my new tradition in Macedonia of celebrating holidays twice, this week I repeated New Years or what is known as Old New Years. Although Old New Years is celebrated throughout the country, I traveled to the town of Vevchani (about 2 hours from Bitola, as the bus drives) for its elaborate holiday parade. The townspeople dress in costume--historically things that frighten them but nowadays also simply wild get-ups. Every year the costumes are different--they have to be because the day after the parade, they build a huge bonfire and burn the costumes, symbolically destroying the evil spirits. Some of my favorites from this year were the Ents (like from Lord of the Rings), invisible men, and the seamstresses in drag. There are pictures loaded on Picasa, definitely worth a look.