One of these particular traditions from the Field of Transylvania is the grape wreath. In the field of Transylvania the peasants have little vineyards, so they were preparing a wreath of grapes for the children to be tasted between the Christmas and the New Year’s Eve. In the old times imagine how big the enthusiasm of the children was in the way to eat grapes in the winter… We must say also that the Spanish tradition of eating twelve grapes in the New Year’s Eve has nothing to do with the Transylvanian tradition. Here the grapes are eaten between the Christmas and the New Year’s Eve and hasn’t a specific number of grapes to be eaten.

the heralds of the star, 1842

Another New Year’s Eve tradition generalized to all Romania is the heralds of the star (in Romanian “mersul cu steaua”, word by word: going with the star). This tradition is related with the Christmas. Between the Christmas and the New Year’s Eve some children are visiting the houses from the community with a star and singing a special carol dedicated to the star that gathered the Three Wise Men to look for Jesus Christ. The star is made by colored paper and other shiny materials and is a competition between the bands of the heralds to have the most beautiful star.

The New Year’s Eve party of the Queen of Transylvania from the Dracula Winter Castle in 31 of December 2015 is a foray into the best of the Transylvanian traditions.

The Little Plough Transylvania

We are continuing the articles about the winter traditions from Transylvania, especially the New Year’s Eve local customs.

After the garlic amulet and the onion calendar traditions at the Queen of Transylvania Embassy Ball from the Dracula Winter Castle in the 31 of December 2015 the guests will meet the „Little plough” song and representation.

This performance, called in Romanian „Pluguşorul” is a mixture of a song and a theatre representation made just by the boys. Similar with the carols home visits a group of children and young boys is visiting the families from the community with a little plough made by wood, bells and a whip in their hands. Once they are received by the hosts, the boys are reciting the little plough song.

The little plough poem is describing the myth of the nation creation: the love story of the Roman Emperor Trajan and the princess Dochia, the daughter of the Dacian King Decebal. In fact, the little plough is a symbolic poem of the nature and the human fertility, a poem of engendering: the boys are wishing to the hosts a good year full of prosperity.

The Goat Dance from Transylvania

The next Romanian tradition presented to the Queen of Transylvania Embassy Ball is the „Goat dance” (in Romanian „Capra”). This performance art is an antique dance from 1,600 BC that reflects the death and rebirth of vegetation. We are in the same old fertility mentality, where the semen – man and the earth – women are giving the next existence: vegetal and human in the same harmonic universe.

The goat dance is a man tradition: a boy is having a specific mask of a goat and is dancing a specific dance; another two boys are singing the story in a dialogical mode. The goat is sold by one of the boys and bought by the other one. In this transaction the goat dies. Then after some incantations the goat is coming back to life.

The boys are performing the goat dance and the little plough representation by visiting all the homes from the community. In this way this traditions are a symbol of unity and spiritual regeneration of the people, the best way to start a new year.

The Queen of Transylvania Embassy Ball from the New Year’s Eve is more than a party; it is the best way to find more about the traditions from Transylvania in just a single event! Come and enjoy it!