türkçe links to original Turkish article
(Hürriyet Newspaper, 7 January 2024)
Townsfolk before they put on their costumes.
The Balkan winter festival "Koleda" has been celebrated in Kırklareli's
Büyükmandıra town in Kırklareli's Babaeski district for the past six
years. Participants paint their faces and wear white cloaks. Prior to the
celebration, people gather at home, listen to scary stories and prepare
"kabak tatlısı" (sweet dish prepared with boiled winter squash, walnuts
and sugar). Then they go outside with torches to scare others: the belief
is that those who have prepared and eaten "kabak tatlısı" won't be scared.
Büyükmandıra Mayor Ersan Çölgeçen explained that when people get
together like this they believe they purge evil spirits. He added that
"On this coldest of winter nights we bind our scissors with string and put
them under rugs, believing that this will protect our house pets from
predator animals. We also believe that by putting our plates in our
stoves the smell will deter unpleasant incidents. "Koleda" is a 1000-year
tradition and we've been celebrating it for six years. People from all over
Thrace join us to purge evil spirits. We are grateful to our town's ladies,
who have worked for two months to prepare this celebration."
Participant Ali Arda Akay (13) said "I'm going to scare people. I think
we'll have a lot of fun. All my friends are joining in. I chose my make-up
myself. I'll knock on windows to scare people and then run off. Agah
Temurlenk, who came to the event from Çorlu said that he joins in the
"Koleda" celebration each year. And participant Demir Kösegil added
that "I came from Lüleburgaz to chase away evil spirits. I think we'll
have a lot of fun scaring people."
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