KOUKERY FERTILITY FESTIVAL: Celebration: The Pulse of the Planet daily radio program offers free legal online mp3 downloads, exploring the world of sound in nature, culture and science, with audio adventures, world music, extraordinary sound portraits, science diaries, and nature ring-tones; an amazing sonic experience.



Airdate: Feb 27, 1998

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 CELEBRATIONS ,Celebrations ,Indigenous Peoples


KOUKERY FERTILITY FESTIVAL: Celebration

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Men in tall, pointed hats, giant men dressed in goat-hair costumes, and a costumed masquerade troupe all characterize the sonorous springtime festival of Koukery in Bulgaria.
Transcript:
We're listening to the sounds of Bulgaria's Koukery Festival, an ancient celebration of fertility and the coming spring. These days, the Koukery Festival is a great excuse for dancing, singing, music and masquerade. I'm Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet, presented by the American Museum of Natural History.

Koukery is celebrated in villages throughout northern Bulgaria. The main event is a parade through the middle of town, led by a group of men wearing tall, embroidered, conical hats. They wear cow bells around their hips, and by stomping their feet and thrusting their hips in unison, they manage to create quite a stir.

ambience men with cone hats ring bells

Following the men in hats come the koukeries. They look sort of like a Halloween version of Bigfoot -- big guys dressed in goat-hair costumes with painted cloth masks. They dance and ring bells as they parade through town.

ambience koukeries dance

Other characters in the parade include a groom and a bride (who's usually a man dressed as a woman), two men in a deer costume, someone in a bear costume, along with their trainer, and a doctor. The troupe stages pantomimes to demonstrate the groom's virility and his politeness.

From Bulgaria's Koukery Festival, Pulse of the Planet is presented by the American Museum of Natural History. I'm Jim Metzner.






 
KOUKERY FERTILITY FESTIVAL: Celebration