The inhabitants of the regions of eastern Macedonia on the days of the Twelfth Day revive, as nowhere else in Greece, ancient customs and traditions left as a legacy by their ancestors, thus honoring their memory. These are customs with pagan dimensions, which mainly revive the last days of the Twelfth Day and more specifically the two days (eve and day) of the Epiphany and the feast of St. John the Baptist.
This year, due to the large outbreak of the coronavirus, the Sub-Region of Drama had announced in time the cancellation of all official cultural events that take place in at least seven areas of the prefecture in an effort to control the transmission of the virus. For this reason, this year, in some communities the customs were revived exclusively by residents.
In Kali Vrysi of the municipality of Prosotsani, 23 km northwest of Drama, on the day of the Epiphany, after the consecration, residents took out of their closets and traditional wooden chests the costumes of the Babogers and each took a walk in the house. Without the presence of visitors, residents of the village, authorities that all the previous years flooded the settlement, they rang their bells filling with sounds the streets and the picturesque neighborhoods of the traditional settlement.
Dimitris Sidos, who has been active in the area for years now through the organization of artistic and cultural events, speaking to APE-MPE, said that “this move of the residents was a spontaneous initiative based on the internal need that each resident has to keep alive the tradition of his ancestors. We felt this call of the historical tradition, for everyone to put on their own uniform and walk on the street, to hear the sounds of the bells again “.
“The annual custom of the revival of the Babogers”, pointed out Mr. Sidos, “lasts a total of three days, with the participation of many people. “This year, in less than an hour, we wanted to pay our own tribute to our ancestors, taking even a short walk in the village, each wearing his own traditional costume that for years now is passed down from generation to generation.”
A tradition that is lost in the depths of the centuries
The Babougera of the Good Fountain is an ancient event, which has its roots – origins, in primitive rituals and Dionysian ceremonies. The villagers disguise themselves with tragic masks, five bells ring in the middle and with their sound they try to awaken nature and drive away evil. The event lasts for centuries and the inhabitants maintain it to this day, adding several innovations.
In pre-coronavirus seasons, the event lasted three days (from January 6 to dawn on January 9) and three nights, with an uninterrupted feast, so that all – locals and foreigners – visitors, escape from everyday life.
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