Nestinarstvo

 
Nestinarstvo is a tradition performed in several villages in the Strandzha Mountains, close to the coast of the Black see where firedancers dance over smouldering wood.

The old ritual is a mixture of Eastern orthodox beliefs and old pagan traditions from the Strandzha mountains. Villagers would go to the main square, led by the head nestinar and the priest where they would symbolically transfer the spiritual power. Then they would all go to a holy spring, carrying the name of the saint, eat, and offer mutton. After sunset the villagers would build up a large fire and dance their traditional round dance until the fire dies. Then the Nestari’s would dance over the coal, accompanied by the beat of the sacred drum and the sound of a bagpipe.

Traditionally, the right to perform the ritual would be hereditary and the head nestinar may be succeeded only by his or her son or daughter, and only when the nestinar himself is too old or ill to continue performing it. Nowadays the tradition has become a commercial tourist attraction, but in some places in the Strandzha Mountains there are people still performing it the old way.