TIRANA, March 14 – The annual pagan holiday celebrating the official end of winter nationwide – Summer Day – had thousands flocking the capital and the city of Elbasan on Wednesday despite the cloudy weather conditions.
Elbasan, in central Albania, is the origin city of the Summer Day celebration, attracting people from close-by villages and towns to enjoy the sunlight and the ballokum – the characteristic Summer Day cookie that has become the city’s specialty. Tirana attracts thousands more, as it has become a tradition for the capital to celebrate with a tight schedule of cultural activities.
This year, celebrations started from Summer Day’s eve in Elbasan, with a big music concert in the city’s center and separate family celebrations which included bonfires and big dinners that were followed on Wednesday by different art fairs.
In Tirana, Summer Day was inaugurated by DJs making music in the Artificial Lake area, elementary school children carnival parades, open air shows in cooperation with the Albanian Aeronautic Federation and the National Kosovo-Albania pilots’ fleet, live music concerts by some of the most renowned Albanian artists both in the Deshmoret e Kombit boulevard and in front of the pyramid. For Tirana’s youth, different contemporary music festivals were organized to take place in the hottest city spots.
“We’ve had a day packed with activities. I want to wish everyone a happy season, when we are together we can do miracles. I wish we continue to build Tirana despite internal debates, and be more positive and cooperative,” Tirana’s mayor Erion Veliaj told the media for Summer Day.
The country’s President Ilir Meta also wished the country a joyful holiday in a Facebook post, saying he hopes for the spring colors and sounds to revitalize optimism and hope in families and each other’s hearts.
Until a decade ago, Summer Day was mostly an Elbasan celebration.
Approved by the Albanian Parliament in 2004 as an official and national holiday, this day of pagan celebration symbolized the rebirth of nature, the awakening from a long dark winter and a general rejuvenation of one’s spirit.
The celebration of Summer’s Day dates back to ancient times in the city of Elbasan, which due in part to its location in the geographic center of the country, was considered the umbilical city for all of Albania.
According to an Albanian legend, the Mountain Muse, who was the goddess of hunting, forests and all things related to nature, would usher in summer by coming out of her temple on the 14th of March.
While thousands of people still rush to Elbasan, where he holiday originates, celebrations in Tirana are becoming even bigger since Summer’s Day was announced a national holiday.
