”Good day to all of you and a Happy New Year! When I look around me and I see people from all generations gathered here today, I have the faith that our traditions and customs will never fade from Vatra Dornei!”
These were the first words Ilie Boncheș, the Mayor of Vatra Dornei, spoke in his opening speech at the Festival of Winter Customs and Traditions in Vatra Dornei, in December 2015. He then welcomed the numerous groups of carolers and visitors coming both from Suceava county and the neighboring counties, such as Bacau or Vaslui.
This festival is one of the most important annual manifestation in Vatra Dornei, celebrating many traditions from the entire Northern Romania, not just Bucovina, and welcoming the New Year. Every December many people from around our town come to attend the event, take pictures and reconnect with lost traditions. It’s a great thing to see for tourists, too.
It would be really hard for us to try and explain what these traditions are without you having the chance to see them, which is why we are very happy to show you the video below featuring the 2015 edition.
The performers invited to the event wowed the audience yet again with their traditional dances, which include the following: Deer Dance (Dansul Caprei), Bear Dance (Dansul Ursului) or the Gypsy Dance (Dansul Țiganilor). The performers also sang carols only old people still know.
The 20th edition of this festival proves once again that Romanian heritage, which gives us our authenticity, is still strong in Bucovina. This is why we strongly recommend you not to miss on this event this year, because you will not regret it. At for the interesting customs people wear, if not else.
We have to thank our partners from Orion Media Vatra Dornei for this video and we hope you enjoy it as much as we do.
