Every year in the second week of August, a traditional fair is held in the village of Ichera in Sliven. This year, for the first time, I not only visited this village, but also had the opportunity to see the fair.
My friends and I, as soon as we arrived, went to a fountain called "Kolovtsa" where there is a designated area for relaxation. You can get there by a bridge that passes over the Luda Kamchia River.
There were pots of beautiful flowers on the bridge. People were walking along the bridge and children were playing.
We poured ourselves some water from the tap, which had a pot of fresh geraniums on it.
We continued towards the village and found another fountain built in 1906.
There is another fountain in the center located next to a small bridge.
The village church was built in 1825-1832 with the voluntary work of the local people.
It has two floors and in the past one of the rooms housed the village community center.
New recreation areas with gazebos and colorfully painted benches were being built on some of the streets.
The location of the village has changed several times over the years, with the original location being in the middle of a large forest called "Divetsite". The current location of the village is in the middle of Dzhendem Dere.
The village hall:
The village was exactly as my friends described it to me. With narrow and winding cobblestone streets. With beautiful old houses with wooden verandas.
In front of some of the houses there were beautiful gardens, and others were full of geraniums.
The entrance to this house was reached by a wooden bridge that I imperceptibly walked along, but quickly turned back because I realized that it was not at all stable and safe.
In front of other houses I saw old sewing machines, the tops of which were obviously used as work tables.
In front of most of the houses there were cars and it was obvious that most of the locals had come home especially for the holiday, to gather with their loved ones and see friends and neighbors.
There were also abandoned houses, and ones that had obviously not been visited for a long time, as the entire front doors were covered in vegetation.
The Library "Zora" of the village was founded in 1872, and it houses many authentic objects such as folk costumes, rugs, wooden utensils and many others.
The Library "Zora" is located in the center and the fair was held there.
In the late afternoon, the place began to fill up with cheerful people and many children.
There were many stalls where merchants sold all kinds of sweet things and other items such as children's toys, t-shirts, paintings, wooden objects.
Donuts, pancakes, cotton candy were prepared on site.
Turkish delight, halva, boiled corn, baklava, sugar cockerels were sold.
There were a lot of balloons.
The holiday was marked with many musical performances by children and folk singers.
People were dancing Traditional folk dances in the square.
It was interesting to visit this Stara Planina village and immerse myself in the celebration of its residents.
sourse: bulgarche.eu