Fire-dancing in the Strandja Mountains

A large fire in the village square slowly burns down into hot coals. It has been raining a little and mist floats into the valleys surrounding us while the sun fades. More and more people gather round the burning coals. Suddenly, the music that has been going on for the last hour pauses and everything becomes silent for a moment… Then singing starts from behind the church and a small procession of Nestinari starts walking through the crowd. They are bare-foot and carry icons of the saints Konstatin and Elena”. Slowly they make their way to the hot coals.

Nestinari dancers going around red-hot coals in the village of Bulgari in Strandja Nature Park

The ancient tradition of fire-dancing

The village of Bulgari in the Strandja Mountains has only 150 inhabitants. But once a year it hosts the Nestinar festival: a fire-dancing ritual that attracts thousands of people from all over Bulgaria.

With all the stalls that sell food, drink, and cheap souvenirs, you could call the Nestinar festival a commercial event. But even so, there is certainly something very special and magical about it.

Fire-dancing (Nestinarstvo) is an ancient tradition now only practised in a few places in Bulgaria. On the night of 3-4 June the Nestinari still perform their holy dance on burning coals in the Strandja village of Bulgari.

Burning coals and flashing light

The small group of Nestinari slowly proceeds through the crowd. The music starts again, but now it has a different character, slower and more trance-like. There is excitement on everybody’s face as the crowd pushes closer to the fire. Many cameras are held up in the air. The dark sky, previously illuminated only by a soft red glow from the coals, is now lit every few seconds by camera flashes. With so many people it is quite difficult to see what is going on. But I manage to catch glimpses through rows of heads and children sitting on their father’s shoulders. Then comes the moment we have all been waiting for…

Walking on fire

With swan-like movements the first of the Nestinari walks over the fire. He carries the icon of Saint Konstantin and is rapidly followed by a woman carrying the icon of Saint Elena. Everybody shouts and claps their hands. Then a third Nestinari goes accros. At a very relaxed pace this time and actually lingering and going back and forth somewhere near the middle. This goes on for maybe ten minutes. Every time before the Nestinari cross the fire they pause their rhythmic movements for a few heartbeats. They seem to gather some sort of mystic energy that allows them to walk on the burning coals unharmed.

As suddenly as the ritual began it ends. The small group of Nestinari disappears into the crowd and vanishes from sight. Minutes later some people start walking off, but most stay to start their own dancing on music that has now taken on a fast and bright pace. Police officers have to stop a few of the onlookers who, no doubt encouraged by alcohol, have taken off their shoes and also want to walk over the hot coals. The general atmosphere is upbeat and relaxed at the same time. We stay until the end to listen to the Bulgarian music and watch people dancing underneath the stars. We are invited to join in but have difficulty following the exact dance steps that come so naturally to the Bulgarians.

A unique cultural event

Despite the slightly commercial setting, to us the fire-dancing ritual felt very authentic. It was very different from the more private ceremony deep in the forest that we saw a few days earlier. Fire dancing in Strandja is a unique cultural event that has been beautifully preserved here. It is no wonder many Bulgarians are so proud of this ancient tradition and come to visit it from far away. We too will definately be going again next year. And hopefully we will have mastered the dance steps by then too!