LAZARA

‘’Lazara’’ – this is a holiday that is being celebrated one week before Easter. It is unusual that this holiday is being celebrated in Vevcani for two days but on the rest of the territory if Macedonia it is celebrated only for one day. On Friday there is the Boyl’s Lazara and on Saturday there is the Girl’s Lazara.

On Friday the boys are all dressed up with knitted baskets in their hands and they walk around the village, door to door knocking on the doors with ‘’wooden sword’’, singing a song, the lady of the house gives them an egg and some money.

On Saturday on Girl’s Lazara, the girls dressed up in traditional costumes holding knitted baskets decorated with flowers, divided into two groups walk separately, one group walks on the upper side of the village and the other walks on the lower part of the village. They go from house to house and sing suitable songs depending if there are young people in the house to be married or if there are newlyweds expecting babies and the lady of the house gives them an egg and some money.

These customs were held in Vevcani until the 50’s when they were forbidden by the political authorities but sixty years later on the initiative of KUD ‘’Drimkol’’ these customs are brought to life again. In 2016 the Lazara songs were heard once again on the streets of Vevcani.