Unlike the whole world, which celebrates the Lovers? Day on February 14, Romanian?s feast dedicated to the love is the 24th February and is called Dragobete. In Brasov, the Centre for Conservation and Promotion of the Traditional Culture supports the communities? efforts to continue celebrating love in a folkloric way.
Imitating Birds
The pure love of the youths is associated at the Romanians with the chirrup and the matching rituals of the birds in the woods, which mythical representation is Dragobetele, or Spring Head. The girls and the boys imitate birds; they go together in the wood, dancing, singing and picking up the first Spring flowers. Everybody yells ?Dragobetele kisses the girls!?. Boys make cradles they hang on the trees branches, caressing and kissing the girls and making love vows.
Love for all the Year
This year, the Drabogete?s Ball begun with a bee in the village Zizin, Tarlungeni commune. Anca Dumitrescu, project coordinator, wrote the script and prepared the rehearsals. ?One of the most important moments of the feast is the election of the Dragobete girl and the Dragobete boy. Both of them kiss the others in order to transmit them luck and love for all the year. The program also included interesting challenges, such as an ability test for girls called The Little Working Girl of 2008?.
