Macedonia celebrates New Year’s Eve twice - on the 31st of December, and also, following the old orthodox calendar, on the eve of 14th of January. The inhabitants of Vevčani, a mountain village in the southwest of the country, celebrate with a carnival, mixing pagan rituals together with Christian influence.

“For 364 days of the year, in the village of Vevčani we are as God created us and never hide behind any mask,” explains Vlatko Poposki, the orthodox priest of Vevčani. “But on the 365th day of the year we use a mask, in order to show to our visitors, especially politicians, what they looked like last year and how ugly the masks they wore were.”

From the Orthodox priest emerges the sense of a strong identity in this mountain village of 3000 inhabitants. Vevčani is the only village of the region that has maintained such an ancient pagan tradition, over 1400 years, before the appearance of Christianity.

No rules during two days

On the 13th of January, in the beginning of the afternoon, villagers and visitors gather on the main square, waiting for the Vasiličari parade. Vasiličari are the parade participants from the village, named after St. Vasil (St. Basil), whom the Orthodox Church commemorates on the 14th of January. The atmosphere takes off when they arrive in groups on the main square, the meeting point of lower and upper Vevčani’s districts.

Growling monsters, chained children, hooded soldiers threatening politicians with weapons and bloody vampires start the parade, to the frantic rhythm of a traditional folkloric orchestra. Devils scare the public with pitchforks and weapons and whirl cow tails in the air, an act meant to frighten malicious spirits. The ancient belief of the village stipulates that between Christ’s birth on orthodox Christmas on the 7th of January, and his baptism, twelve days later, the village remains without God’s support from dangerous spirits. This collective ritual takes on holy support, providing protection for the village throughout the whole coming year.

Many natural materials, like sheep skins, horns or branches are used in the costumes as in old times, parading together with very contemporary disguises. The villagers’ creativity is finally shown, and the public laughs or reacts when discovering masks, political satires and costumes that no one would reveal before Carnival day.

According to the former mayor of Vevčani, Vasil Radinoski, “These are two days of absolute freedom, the opportunity to discharge any pressure that people have felt all over the year. As an example, people are still scared of the government, especially in the Balkans where there have been a number of repressive regimes. During these two days, people can just forget about this all, insult the authorities, and tell them: ‘today I’m free’.”

The village population doubles during the event, welcoming many people born in Vevčani, who have now emigrated to other countries in Europe. “We live the whole year for this party”, says an anonymous monster in the Carnival. He lives in Belgrade, and organises a trip back to his native village every year.

Only men

If modernity slightly changes the Carnival’s rituals, the main role of Saint Vasil’s Carnival is in men’s hands. Only they are allowed to be Vasiličari, disguised and marching on the main square. “This tradition is still applied nowadays”, explains Mirjana Mirčevska, Vevčani ethnologist in the Skopje Anthropological faculty.

The main characters of the carnival are the bride and the groom, both men dressed in traditional Vevčani costumes. They represent fertility and, by extension, the prosperity of the village. After the parade, where many costumes show prominent breasts and genital organs also meant to bring fertility to Vevčani, they visit every single household of the village in order to wish a happy and successful year to the villagers.

After midnight, more fireworks, dances and concerts on the square follow and at around 3 o’clock in the morning, the bride and groom’s role grows even more important: they lead a procession to the fresh water springs in the upper village, followed by a few thousand people. The people then collect blessed waters and bring it back to their homes in order to bring in a good year.

“If the old traditions are respected during the afternoon, nowadays the modern elements, like an evening party and concert turn into a carnival where everyone can be costumed, including women”, mentions Mirjana Mirčevska. For Boris, a 99-year-old former policeman disguised as a priest, today’s carnival is much nicer and safer than in the past, when fights between the two districts of Vevčani often happened.

On the following day, 14th of January, the last energies of long hours of drinking and partying are used up in a last parade. Then fun-lovers build a fire on the main square: it’s time to burn the masks and discover who was hiding behind them. Vevčani’s villagers are ready to start the year without fear, freed of the previous year’s pressures.

**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.