According to the popular belief, on the night of 23 to 24 June, the skies open and Sanzienele (this is the Romanian word and I can't seem to find an English corespondent) start dancing. This holiday is one of the Sun, of love and of lust for life.

According to the legends the fairies (we'll call them that) are some gorgeous beings that live in the forests. In some parts of the country this tradition is long forgotten. In my neck of the woods, this holiday is very much alive and what is special about it is that the younger generations really care about it and they carry it on.

For the girls (and me) the day started really early. I woke up at 4 AM but I'm pretty sure that they woke up earlier. Part of the tradition is that they have to woke up before the sunrise and pick up the plants and braid the wreaths.

The tradition is that they have to wear the traditional clothing which sometimes is as old as 150 years and it's passed from generation to generation.
After 5 years of managing our NGO one would think that I got used to seeing them this way but I can't stop admiring them.

Anyway, after the sun is up and the wreaths are braided the girls gather near a forest around a makeshift stage and they sing and dance the whole day celebrating the sun,spreading positivity and love.

As the night comes, the things start heating up. A huge bonfire is lit, the girls join hands and they dance around the fire all night long.

Hat off to these girls because they stick to their roots and do all they can to promote their customs. One thing stuck with me since yesterday.
At around 5 AM when we got to the place where they were picking the plants, it was freezing outside. The girls were dressed as you saw them in the images above. The grass was wet from the dew. I was soaked and after 2 hours I was getting ready to call it a day but none of the girls had ever complained about the cold, the fact that them too were also soaked so I manned up and stayed with them.

I was going to just take some photos and document the whole day but I filmed a few short clips and the resulting video tells a better story than I ever could.