In town Rupea, county of Brasov, which lies along the cultural road linking Brasov to Sighisoara, there are two ancient customs giving the locals the opportunity to show their respect for the regional costume. These are the Folk Costume Ball and the Married Couples Ball.
Whereas only the people who are not married participate in the Christmas Singles Ball, at the Folk Costume Ball the participants wear traditional specific costumes, irrespective of their place of origin or ethnic group. Only the married couples can take part in the Married Couples Ball.
A heart-touching celebration
The Folk Costume Ball revives, for one night, the wonderful atmosphere from the times when people used to organize balls where they socialized, had fun and proudly displayed their delightful and pompous folk costume of Rupea. It was a great honour for the villagers to wear this regional costume which represented their visiting card.
"It is a heart-touching celebration which gathers both the sons of the village left from home and those who remained. The event takes places at the beginning of each year in the famous Fortress of Cohalm. The youth and the elderly are doing their best to make all daily problems disappear for one evening, and bring instead joy and the pride of being from Rupea. This is because, unlike other places of the country, the traditional garments are much more than a symbol," said Mr. Vasile Danciu, one of the sons of the village.
Celebrating authenticity
The folk costume of Rupea is unique and sumptuous, being adjusted according to age and category: the youth, the adults and the elderly. The folk costume ball was first created 38 years ago from a desire to celebrate authenticity and make the coming generations aware of their roots, so to preserve what is valuable over time.
This year a large number of people took part in this event, coming from the surrounding villages: Cuciulata, Fantana, Comana, Crihalma, Ticusul Nou, Daisoara, Merchiasa and Jibert. Everyone displayed their beautiful regional costume, specific to their own village, which enhanced the importance of the event.
Place specificity
Besides the folk costumes parade, there were also folk dances specific to the place of origin of each participant. It is for the first time that such a complex event takes place, addressing not only to the people from Rupea, but also to those who once were part of raion Rupea (raion = type of administrative unit of several post-Soviet countries).
The groups called Junii Brasovului, Junii Brasovecheni, the inhabitants from Ungra also took part in the Folk Costume Ball and they displayed their beautiful traditional costume. Junii Cetatii ended the show with the Round Dance of Unification.
