The Dobarsko grannies preserve a Bulgarian folklore treasure – Vodichni songs

The village of Dobarsko, located near Bulgaria’s most visited winter resort – Bansko – has long won the hearts of tourists. In addition to its clean air and magnificent views of three mountain ranges – Rila, Pirin, and the Rhodopes – Dobarsko attracts visitors with its rich history and spiritual heritage, created and zealously preserved by the local residents.

Dobarsko and its vicinities – unique combination of ancient history and beautiful nature

There is hardly a Bulgarian who has not visited the mountain village at some point during the year and admired the frescoes in the local church of St. Theodore Tyron and St. Theodore Stratelates.

The mystery of the Dobarsko Church

However, the village comes most alive in the first days of the year, when Dobarsko celebrates its feast day. It falls on Epiphany and is connected with the Voditsi custom performed on the two major Orthodox Christian holidays – Epiphany (known as Yordanovden in Bulgarian) and St. John the Baptist's Day (Ivanovden in Bulgarian).

On Epiphany, the water purifies the world for a new beginning

The celebration begins with an Epiphany liturgy in the church of the Presentation of the Lord, followed by the ritual of retrieving the cross by one of the dozens of men who plunge into the icy waters of the Klinets River.

Afterwards, the festive program moves to the village square, where Bulgarian folk songs resound and a long traditional horo dance is formed. At that moment, all attention turns to the singing group of the Dobarsko Grandmothers. They have already earned the nickname “the symbol of Dobarsko” and carry the fame of their native village both near and far.

With their bright and clear voices, the women are a true attraction for the village’s visitors, but in fact the singing group formed at the local community center preserves and immortalizes the songs and traditions of this corner of Bulgaria. Ancient songs have been preserved here that are unknown in other parts of the country. They are known as “Voditsi songs” and are connected with the Voditsi (waters) ritual, which has been kept alive in Dobarsko to this day.

Male and female Voditsi – Yordanovden and Ivanovden

Epiphany and the Feast of Saint John the Baptist in Bulgarian folklore

These songs are sung only by girls or women – the so-called vodicharki. Dressed in scarlet traditional dresses, they go from house to house in the village and sprinkle the homes they enter with holy water from Epiphany. The vodicharki of Dobarsko have songs dedicated to each member of the household, and through their lyrics – much like the male caroling and survakari groups at Christmas and St. Basil’s Day – they bestow blessings for health, love, and prosperity. This ritual is performed on the morning of January 7, St. John’s Day (Ivanovden), when at dawn the young women visit every home in Dobarsko.

Today, the Voditsi songs are performed only by the group of the Dobarsko Grandmothers. Their current members have an average age of around 80, but alongside them is the group “Kitka” – the young women of Dobarsko, who are now learning the Voditsi songs and will carry on the tradition preserved by the Dobarsko Grandmothers.

“At the moment, the singing group does not have a formal leader, but the women gather, rehearse the songs, and their repertoire is passed on to the young people in the village,” shares Krasimir Makriev, the current chairman of the community center in Dobarsko.

He says that the permanent number of the Dobarsko Grandmothers is now seven to eight women, and the group of young women is about the same size. The tradition will not disappear, because everyone in Dobarsko shows interest in it, and everyone falls silent to listen to them. The atmosphere is incredible, even on the frosty festive days of January, confirm visitors to the Voditsi celebration.

For many years, the leader of the singing group was Smilina Popova, who used to come from a neighboring village to maintain the repertoire of the Dobarsko Grandmothers.

“You will recognize the performance of the Dobarsko Grandmothers by their two-part singing,” says Smilina Popova in an interview with Darina Arnaudova from the archives of Bulgarian National Radio (BNR).

“We set ourselves the task of reviving the ancient folklore of Dobarsko, and for me its emblem is the so-called Vodichni songs. All the women in the village know them; we passed them on to the younger people, and because we preserved and transmitted them to the next generation, the Ministry of Culture nominated us as one of Bulgaria’s ‘Living Human Treasures.’

We also sing other songs in the group - everyday and work songs, such as can be found all over the country - but ours are characterized by a somewhat different style of performance and sound. You can tell that it is the Dobarsko group singing by the fact that they perform the heavy songs - the ones sung on the way back from work, from the fields - in two voices, with one leader, that is, one leading voice and several drones (single-tone singing of the second voices). These combine so beautifully that one can only feel pleasure while listening to them.

We focused precisely on these songs because they are very difficult, and we wanted to preserve them and pass them on to the young group.”

The Vodichni songs exist only in Dobarsko and are sung exclusively by girls on St. John’s Day (7 January), explains Smilina Popova:

“There are about 28–30 songs with which the so-called vodicharki visit every home, just as the Christmas carolers do. The songs are sung according to the composition of the family - there is a specific song for everyone: a song for health, a song for joy, for weddings, a song for fertility, for abundance, for love, for children, for the young, for the old… They are sung only on St. John the Baptist’s Day.

The procession starts early in the morning with a small vessel containing a sprig of basil tied with a red thread. Inside it is holy water, with which the homes are sprinkled for health and to ward off evil forces. We have many such songs, which the young people gladly agreed to sing.

I can say that at the beginning it was very difficult to get them to accept and perform them. But later they saw that these songs are highly valued by folklorists in the field and are received with great interest by scholarly researchers of our folklore. That is why today the young people in Dobarsko perform them with pleasure, know them well, and in this way the tradition itself will be preserved.”

With the Vodichni songs, the Dobarsko group takes part in festivals all over the country - they perform them throughout the year, at folklore gatherings and also for guests from abroad. This brings great joy and a sense of pride to each of the Dobarsko grandmothers, knowing that they have a mission and that they are preserving the spirit of their native region. One of the members of the group is Magdalena Zaharieva, who shared with Darina Arnaudova:

“We take part with songs in many celebrations - 8 March, Christmas… We, the group of grandmothers, sing, and then the young brides sing as well; it was very beautiful and joyful. We come with joy - this is entertainment for us, a kind of relief. We leave our worries at home, come here, laugh, sing, and being together like this makes us feel good - that’s why we come. We agree on a time, everyone leaves their work at home and comes here for rehearsals, to sing our songs.”

Read also:

Folk songs from the villages of Dobarsko and Banya

Unique church in Dobarsko attracts tourists and pilgrims all year round

English version: R. Petkova