There is a a centuries-old tradition and takes place every year in the period of the Christian festival Trimeri, during Lent. The word âcarnivalâ originates from the Latin words: carne â meat and vale â farewell . The carnival represents a vestige of an ancient cult from the pagan time and indicates the glorification of fertility and purification from the spectral energies of the daily routine. In 1670 the Turkish travel-author Evlija Chelebija, while staying in Strumica, wrote: â I came into a town located in the foothills of a high hillock and what I saw that night was masked people running houseâtoâhouse, with laughter, scream and songâ.
