Today is Summer Day (Dita e Verës or Verëza) in Albania. It is an Albanian spring festival and pagan holiday celebrated on March 14. Verëza corresponds to the first three days of the new year and marks the end of the winter season (the second half of the year) and the beginning of the summer season (the first half of the year). Dita e Verës has its roots in traditional Albanian, Greek and Roman religions.
The town of Elbasan is the traditional center of the festival. The town is famous for the temple of Mountain Muse or Zana Malit, known as the goddess of hunting, forest, and nature. According to a legend, the goddess wouldn’t come out of her temple until the beginning of summer, which was March 14th.
On the Day of Summer in Albania, locals eat traditional Ballokume cookies and treat guests with national dishes, prepared in a bit different way than usual. Kids are typically given nuts and dried figs. Another tradition is wearing a bracelet Verore (a word derived from summer). It’s made of two thin braided strings, red and white. When the celebration is over, the bracelet is hung on a tree branch. It’s supposed to bring good luck. It’s also assumed that birds use the bracelets for building their nests.
I noticed that Eric Carmen died recently. He was front man for the Raspberries in the 70s and went on to a solo career propelled anthems like “All by Myself” and “Hungry Eyes,” has died. He was 74. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ssCL292DQA
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