Christmas fairs

Christmas fairs originate in Germany, but today they are popular around the world, including Romania.

Ana-Maria Cononovici, 20.12.2022, 14:00

Christmas fairs originate in Germany, but today they are held in many
countries around the world. In Romania, the tradition of the
Christmas fair is a recent adoption, but very popular around the
country. In Sibiu, in central Romania, for example, it goes back to
2007, when Sibiu held the title of European capital of culture. Cluj,
Timișoara and Brașov have also adopted the practice and are
attracting more and more visitors each year. Bucharest is no
exception, with various fairs being held in different parts of the
city, such as the big main one in Constitution Square, and others at
the Children’s Comic Opera House, in front of the National Opera
House and at the Dimitrie Gusti Village Museum.

The Christmas fair in
the city of Craiova, in the south of the country, ranked third in a
classification compiled by European Best Destinations after those in
the Hungarian capital Budapest and the Polish city of Gdansk. Fairs
are held in five different areas of Craiova: in the Michael the Brave
Square, the Historical Centre, in front of the National Theatre, in
the Doljana area and in the park in front of the St Dimitry
Cathedral. We find here a 20 m high tree decorated with over a
million light bulbs and a 700 square metre ice rink.

Back to Bucharest, we caught up with Nicoleta Ionici, who has her own
stand at the Village Museum fair, and who told us more about her
offer:

We sell traditional Christmas figurines, baubles, Christmas trees
made of fur, funny-looking candles with nose, eyes and a smiling
mouth; decorations to hang on doors, shaped like a moon or flowers;
and a big snowman with hat. There are many people at the fair, and
foreign tourists are particularly interested in these figurines
dressed in traditional costume. I also have a Dracula figurine, but
it looks funny, it’s not scary at all. Next to it I put a young
peasant woman, who’s supposed to be its next victim.

Ion Botnariu, who is a bee-keeper, sells all kinds of products made
from honey. He told us more:

We
sell mead, which is a kind of wine made from honey, apple juice and
pollen. It’s very refreshing and good for blood circulation and
digestion, not to mention that it is also an aphrodisiac. We also
sell vinegar made from honey, which contains a lot of organic
potassium from apples. Another product that sells very well is the
coriander honey, while children love the ice cream cones filled with
honey instead of ice cream, an original idea which has been catching
on. At first children were a bit hesitant, but seeing how appetising
the cone looks, they agree to have a taste and realise this mix of
honey and vitamin is extremely tasty. They always come back for more.
For the honey cones we use a type of honey that is rich in minerals
and is very creamy and fragrant, a propolis tincture with a 50%
alcohol content and pollen from the banks of the Danube, extracted
from the wild plants and flowers that grow in the Danube Delta, such
as St. John’s wort, thistle, yellow clover and mint. It’s an
irresistible combination, not to mention very healthy.

Winter
holidays are traditionally welcomed with carols, folk theatre
performances and mask theatre, and the masks used in such
performances can also be found on sale at the Christmas fairs.
Stelian Popa from Bucharest has been collecting these masks for more
than 30 years, ever since he first started to make them himself at
the workshops hosted by the Village Museum. He told us more about the
masks he sells at the fair:

These
are traditional carolling masks from Bukovina used from around
Christmas until St John’s Day on 7th January in
different carolling rituals. They are made from sheepskin, with a
textile lining, and are decorated with tassels and other elements.
The carols in which these masks are used are meant to drive off evil
spirits. In Bukovina they only make a single type of mask, but in
other areas they make different masks for women, men and children. I
make the Bukovina model because I like it best.

The
Christmas fairs are also an opportunity to sample traditional
Christmas dishes, not just to buy decorations and presents. Various
concerts are also held for the duration of the fair. As for the
beverage offer, whether or cold or hot, it includes mulled wine,
mulled schnapps, kinder punch, apple juice, tea, coffee and hot
chocolate, among others.