St Theodore's Saturday (Sântoader)
28 February 2026 · movable holiday — Giddy-up! Today the sky is one big racetrack!
St Theodore's Saturday, known in Romania as Sântoader, falls on the first Saturday of Orthodox Great Lent. It is linked to St Theodore the Recruit (Tiron), and in folk tradition it is also a festival of horses. In many villages owners take their horses to water, groom and decorate them, and young men hold horse races. Folk belief says the winner and his horse will be lucky through the year. The custom is tied to the start of spring fieldwork, when the horse was a farmer's most valued helper. The date is movable because it depends on the Orthodox Easter: Great Lent begins seven weeks before it. Orthodox Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon following the fixed spring equinox of 21 March in the Julian calendar. In 2026 the day falls on 28 February. In Bulgaria, St Theodore's Day is celebrated with similar horse customs.
Flying across the sky: An ethereal, bluish-silver figure of a galloping horse and rider, drawn from pale glowing dots and thin connecting lines like a constellation moving across the night sky
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