Customs and Traditions & Music – Romania

Christmas is just around the corner, so let's discover a festive ritual!

Every year on Christmas Eve, groups of young men gather in villages across Romania to perform Colindat, a Christmas ritual. They visit each house, singing festive songs. Afterwards, the hosts offer the singers ritual gifts and money.

The songs have an epic content, adapted to the individual circumstances of each host. Ritual performers also sing special, auspicious songs for unmarried girls and dance with them.

Colindat is sometimes performed in costume, with instrumental accompaniment and choreography. Groups of young men (traditionally unmarried) are the main bearers and practitioners of the element; experienced men, often former group leaders, are responsible for training the group.

The ritual songs are learned in daily rehearsals from the time the group is formed until Christmas Eve. In some areas, children are allowed to attend these rehearsals to learn the repertoire.

This cultural heritage not only conveys seasonal greetings, but also plays an important role in preserving social identity and ensuring cohesion. In 2013, the men’s group Colindat, Christmas-time ritual, was inscribed on UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Bonus Trivia!

In the Republic of Moldova, this ritual is also an integral part of the Christmas celebrations.

♦ Watch the video to learn more!

♦ Sources and photographs taken from: https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/men-s-group-colindat-christmas-time-ritual-00865

Photographs: © Archive of Folklore, Romanian Academy, Cluj-Napoca

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