Bulgarians Celebrate St. Basil's Day or ‘Survaki’

On January 1 we celebrate St. Basil's Day or Survaki. Today, nearly 127,000 Bulgarians have a name day.

Folk tradition connects the feast of St. Basil the Great with the custom of survakane. Despite the small significant difference with the carol groups, on St. Basil's Day young men gather around the houses at night and perform the custom of ‘survakane’ to the home owners.

On the holiday itself, groups of children pass by, who also ‘survakat’ the owners of the houses. Survakane itself is a continuation of the Christmas blessings.

On St. Basil's Day, Vasil, Vasilka, Vasilia, Vasilena, Veselin, Veselina, Vesela, Vasiliy, Vasilina, Vasiana, Vaso, Vlada, Vlastin, Vlastina, Vlastomir, Vlaiko, Vaca, Valo, Vala, Vato, Tsarena, Tsaril, Tsarila have a name day./BNT