After driving through the curvy roads of Mavrovo, you can find yourself in one of the oldest villages in Macedonia. The Mijaks (Мијаци) first founded Galičnik, which was one of their main towns, but traces of them can be seen all over the country. They were known for their craftsmanship, especially their talent for wood, their architecture, and their traditions. One of these traditions is the wedding on St Peter’s Day. 

This small village, hidden deep in the mountains of western Macedonia, is the venue of the country’s biggest wedding festival. “Галичка свадба” (Galičnik wedding) is a combination of rituals, traditional clothing, and dances over two days. Saturday begins with decorating the Macedonian flag and inviting the musicians. Traditional dances like “Тешкото” (“the hard one”) are being performed. The day ends with the bride visiting three fountains. On Sunday, the celebrations include inviting deceased ancestors. The groom is shaved, symbolising separation from his family. The bride then rides a horse to the church. Many welcome rituals follow before the couple and their close family enters the church for the ceremony. 

Usually, weddings are celebrated with the closest family and friends. At the Galičnik wedding, there were about 5000 strangers there as well. Everything is captured on camera, broadcast, and shown on a big screen for all to see. “They’ve always been part of it. I don’t like them too much, but I think it’s nice that people who can’t make it can still watch from afar,” says Jelena Mihajlovska for Voices. Her family is from Galičnik as well. She lives and studies in Skopje.

All year round Galičnik is a very quiet place. Most of the people whose families came from Galičnik now live in bigger cities. Many come back once a year for the wedding. “Everybody started moving out in the 1970s because of the rise of industry. The population of Galičnik has gone down since the 1940s. There used to be 5,000-8,000 people, but now there are only 4 people here all year round”, says Jelena. The Wedding gives people a common reason to visit and to celebrate many traditions. 

To get married at the Galičnik Wedding, the marrying couple has to fulfil some requirements. At least one of the couples must have roots in the village, it should be their first church wedding and they should have taken part in previous weddings. Every year many couples apply to be married in the Galičnik style. This year Stefana Dimitrova and Darijan Koczoski were the lucky couple. But it wasn’t always like that. “In the 50s, there weren’t new couples for the wedding every year, so sometimes it was just a performance. Now everything is authentic: the bachelors, the costumes, the dancers”.  

Once a year, the quiet village of Galičnik hosts Europe’s most traditional wedding festival. People come from all over to experience the culture. “I think it brings people closer together. Especially the people who used to live here and come to the wedding”. This wedding festival brings people together to experience traditions, love and their culture.

Fiona Schaumann 

Sources:
Galičnik Wedding Festival – Wikipedia
Galičnik – Wikipedia
Галичка свадба 2024 – програма – Галичник | Официјална Веб Страна (galichnik.com.mk)
Jelena Mihajlovska
Mijaks – Wikipedia