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| Roma Boys and Girls Mingle at Bride Market in Bulgaria |
Every year in the region of Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, a group
of young women and men will converge at the open-air market to meet.No, it’s
not an open air market to trade or showcase goods, but it’s a market for young
girls to find prospective husbands.
The Stara Zagora bride market is an event that has been
carried out for many years in this region of Bulgaria. Young women will dress
to look attractive so that they can increase their chances of being admired by
prospective husbands. The parents from this poor region of Bulgaria use the
festival to find rich guys for their daughters to ensure that they are well
taken care of in the difficult economic situation that Bulgaria is currently going
through.
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| Roma Girl Checks Herself while Mother Looks on at Stara Zagora Bride Market |
The other group consists of parents who are hoping to find a
good woman or beautiful wife for their sons. Young men dressed in casual attire
are seen mingling with girls, chatting and greeting each other. The mood is
relaxed and the atmosphere is friendly. Boys and girls dance to music among a
fleet of parked cars, the parents of the young teenagers and youth stand far to
watch the proceedings. Pictures from the event show parents accompanying their
daughters and sons.
To understand this annual event which takes place four times
a year during the Christian holidays, you have to look at its origin. The bride
market is a traditional event for the Kalaidzhi people who attend the Christian
Orthodox church. It was initially held in a small village, in an open field
near the horse market.There, girls would be paraded on stage for prospective
bidders to check out and offer their price.
In 2014, the bride festival was moved to the city on the
orders of the police who wanted to avoid confrontations with local horse traders.
About 18,000 people live in the Stara Zagora region comprising of mostly the
Kalaidzhi.The Kalaidzhi are well known as a nomadic people and most of them are
self-employed as coppersmiths.
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| Teenage Couple At Bride Market |
Since the Kalaidzhi are a people with strong religious values,
they don’t usually allow their daughters to mix with boys, they will even get
their daughters to drop out of school just to protect them from male attention
and sexual relationships. The annual Bride Market provides a casual but rare
opportunity for Kalaidzhi girls and boys to mix freely. Even at this dating event,
parents do not like to stay far from their daughters, they are seen
accompanying them and keeping an eye while they chat up and share rumors with
other parents.
So how much is the price for a bride at the Stara Zagora
market? Well, it depends on the attention that the girl has received from
potential husbands. If she is very attractive, the price is likely to go up,
but the hard economic conditions and increased unemployment in the country have
helped to reduce the price.
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| Girls Socializing at Bride Market |
The Stara Zagora bride market affair is similar to the bride
price that is usually demanded by families in Asian and African cultures, in
both cases, a price is negotiated by the families. In Bulgaria, the price of a
bride ranges from 5,000 to 10,000 BGN (US$2,700 to US$5,400).
You might be wondering how a bride is claimed but the element
of free dating and free choice still prevails over other factors, it’s not a
forced marriage or an arranged marriage that one might encounter in countries
like India and Pakistani where the bride has no choice but to marry the man
that her parents have chosen. The social event allows young people to mingle
freely and get to know or like each other. If there is a spark between the two
of them, then it will set the stage for a financial arrangement for marriage.
Source –
MailOnline UK
Photos –
MailOnline UK
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