Date and public holiday status
New Year’s Day falls on 1 January every year. It is an official public holiday and non-working day in Bulgaria under Article 154 of the Labour Code. If it falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the next working day is a substitute day off.
The date also marks Vasilyovden, the church feast of Saint Basil the Great. New Year celebrations therefore bring together secular festivities and traditional folk customs, which remain alive in Bulgarian villages.
Welcoming the new year
The night of 31 December into 1 January is celebrated with a festive dinner, a countdown, a toast and horo, a traditional group dance. Towns and cities organise concerts and fireworks in their central squares.
Common greetings include “Chestita Nova godina!”, meaning “Happy New Year!”, and “Za mnogo godini!”, a wish for many more years. Vasilyovden is also a name day for people called Vasil, Vasilka, Veselin, Vesela and related names, who receive greetings for the occasion.
Children’s blessings and lucky wishes
Early in the morning, children visit homes for survakane, a custom in which they gently tap their hosts on the back with decorated dogwood branches called survachki. They offer blessings for health, fertility and prosperity, receiving dried fruit, sweets or money in return. Dogwood is used for its strength and early flowering.
A familiar feature of the festive meal is banitsa, a pastry served with lucky wishes. Small notes or dogwood buds represent wishes for health, love, money, travel or a new job. Each family member takes a piece and reads their fortune for the year. In many homes, the first piece is set aside “for the house”.