St Elijah's Day (Ilinden)
20 July 2026 — Thunder in the summer sky? Happy Ilinden – stay safe and well!
Ilinden is the feast of the Holy Prophet Elijah, observed on 20 July. In Bulgarian folk tradition he is the lord of thunder, rain and hail, protecting fields and homes from storms and fires. A popular belief says Elijah rides a fiery chariot across the sky, and thunder is the rumble of its wheels. The feast falls in the heat of high summer and is linked with the end of the harvest. Many people in Bulgaria go to chapels on hills and mountain tops to pray, and in many places a kurban (a ritual shared meal from an offered animal, given out for health and abundance) is held. It is also a name day for people called Iliya, Iliyan, Iliana, Ilina and related names. The celebration is about faith, nature and community. The date is fixed in the calendar used by the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and does not depend on the phases of the Moon. Because Ilinden is traditionally linked with thunder, the sky for this day is shown with summer storms, and the mountain stars are often especially clear after the rain.
Flying across the sky: An ethereal, bluish-silver star figure made of luminous dots and fine lines, like a constellation: a swirling chariot-shaped wheel of light drawn across the sky, with a trailing spray of tiny sparks like summer lightning
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