Hederlez Concert in Comrat, Gagauzia

The 6th of May is an important event in Gagauzia. It is the day of « Hederlez », which is an old celebration related to pagan and Saint George cults. It falls on May 6th in the Gregorian calendar but April 23rd in the Julian calendar. It is celebrated in most of Balkan and Turkish communities and bears different names (Turkish: Hıdırellez or Hıdrellez, Azerbaijani: Xıdır İlyas or Xıdır Nəbi, Crimean Tatar: Hıdırlez, Romani language: Ederlezi, Đurđevdan "George's day" in Serbian, Gergyovden " in Bulgarian). A long time ago, this celebration was for Gagauzian people one of the most important of the year. In her book, « Parlons Gagaouze » Güllü Karanfil explains that during the 19th century it lasted for three days. People scarified a beast for the ancestors and had to follow several rituals related to old nomad Turkish and Balkan traditions. Today, Hederlez is most of all a spring festivity. It occurs just on the beginning of Easter holidays, and is an occasion for people to gather, play some music, share a meal..in brief, to enjoy the first sunny days of the year. Because it's an international event, which what's more occurs few days before Europa day, organizes every year Comrat's European Centre Organization a concert gathering different nationalities from Eastern Europa countries. This year, Ukraine, Bielorussia, Moldova, Turkey, Bulgaria, Gagauzia were present. They made a parade and performed traditional dances. Eventually, we can say that if Hederlez pagan celebration is not perpetuated anymore, it still bears an important symbolical value for Gagauzian people. On this date is indeed cultural diversity and international friendship celebrated. And who knows better than Gagauzian people, how cultural melting-pot contributed to build their own identity.