One of the oldest customs in the Western Balkans is the Galićnik Wedding, an event that takes place annually in the village of Galićnik, a picturesque mountain town 1,200 meters above sea level not far from Mavrovo National Park in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

This tradition, which has been nominated for the UNESCO world heritage list, always begins before St. Peter's Day, celebrated on 12 July, and last for two days.

The bride and groom are usually locals. As of 2008, they are required to participate in a ceremony presided over by a state official in addition to the traditional wedding.

This year's couple comprised Vanja Ristovska, 32, and Goran Gavrilovski, 37, both Skopje residents, who had decided to take the next step in their 15-year relationship.

"We have been watching this event for years and are thrilled with this tradition. We've learned all the customs and want to make our relationship official in this festive way," Goran and Vanja told numerous papers, including those from international media.

Traditionally, the wedding begins on the evening of 11 July. Each year the tip of a flagpole is decorated with flowers and the wedding party begins its procession from Upija Fountain to Dosta Mansion, where the standard-bearer fires three shots from his rifle. Afterwards, the groom and his male relatives welcome them with bagpipes and drums at the old Galićnik bridge, an exquisite example of age-old architecture.

The next stage is the Mother-In-Law performing Kolo, a type of ring-dance, in front of Upija Fountain. The dance is led by the mother-in-law, who wears a flour strainer on her head and holds a pitcher of red wine in her right hand. Another classical event and one also considered for addition to the UNESCO’s world heritage list, is the Teskoto involving a circle dance accompanied by folk music played on bagpipes and drums. This dance symbolises the defiance and determination of the local population, and it is impressive to watch the dancer standing with one foot on the tapan, (a big drum commonly used in the folk music of the Balkan countries) and slowly kneeling and rising up again.

The final part of the introductory half of the event is the "walking on water", when the entire wedding party, armed with torches, carries the bride to the Sekulice, Vingovice, and Upija fountains, where she collects water from each. The ceremony of the previous evening continues the next day with a rite dating back to pagan times: the inviting of the dead to attend the wedding. This is followed by the calling of the best man and shaving of the groom in the center of the village. During the shaving, the groom's family weeps, expressing sorrow that he is leaving them and devoting himself to the bride.

At about 10:30 a.m., the procession leaves for the bride's house. There, the national flag adorned with flowers is unfurled from a small window. This is followed in the small yard by one of the most romantic local customs. Peering at the groom through the ring, the bride recites in the Galićnik dialect the same words that thousands of other Galićnik brides spoke before her: "Through this ring I see you and enter your heart."

Then the bride, wearing a dress weighing over 20 kilograms, mounts a horse and, accompanied by the wedding party and musicians, rides to the nearby St. Peter and Paul Church to get married. Next, tradition dictates that Upija Fountain is the site of a massive wedding feast.

The official part of the event includes hundreds of extras, wedding guests in Galićnik costumes, as well as fifteen riders.

For the gourmet, the region's celebrated roast boar, the preparation of which takes two days in local taverns, is a tasty treat.

In recent years the Galićnik Wedding has also marked the start of the Galićnik Summer of Culture, which every years features a screening of The Galićnik Wedding, a movie filed in 1939 by Sifrid Miladinov from Kumanovo. The event also includes the traditional Literature Festival, which begins on 2 August, an Art Colony starting on 19 August, and a biennale devoted to ethnological photographs and films.

This year, a concert entitled The World Sings and Dances for Galićnik was also held, presenting performers in traditional costumes from Russia, Australia, Japan, the U.S. and other countries.

**The European Commission does not accept or recognise in whatever form or content a denomination other than “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”. All references, direct or indirect, to this country used in this article are those of its author.