St John the Baptist Day (Ivanovden)
7 January 2026 — Off to the river we go! Health to the groom and happy name day to all Ivans!
On 7 January the Bulgarian Orthodox Church remembers Saint John the Baptist, who, according to the Gospels, baptised Jesus in the River Jordan. It is one of the most widely celebrated name days in Bulgaria: everyone named Ivan, Yoan, Ivaylo, Ivanka, Yoana and related names celebrates. The folk custom is linked to cold water. In some regions, such as Thrace and the Pirin region, newlyweds married during the past year are ritually bathed in a river or well, to bring them health and fertility. It is often done with songs, music and general merriment. The holiday follows Epiphany (6 January), known in Bulgarian folk tradition as Yordanovden. Its date is fixed in the Revised Julian calendar, which the Bulgarian Church has used since 1968. Midwinter nights are clear and cold, a fine time to look for the constellation Orion.
Flying across the sky: An ethereal, bluish-silver figure made of luminous dots and connecting lines, like a constellation: a cheerful group of star-people carrying a groom on their shoulders across the night sky, with a small starry ripple trailing behind them like a river
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