In Bulgaria, cultural practices associated with the 1st of March are transmitted from ancient times to celebrate the beginning of spring. Baba Marta involves making, offering, and wearing a red and white thread, which is then untied when a blossom tree, swallow, or stork is seen.
Several versions of the Baba Marta tale exist in folklore, but the most common version is of a feisty and temperamental lady named Baba Marta. This lady seems always in a bad mood with her two brothers, January and February, when the sun only comes out when she smiles.
An old shepherd decided during the final days of March to erect her flocks in the mountains, thinking that Baba Marta would grant her good fortune since she was as old as Marta. Baba Marta was angry when her younger brother, April, granted her wish of borrowing a few days. These are called "borrowed days", "zaemnitsi", in the Bulgarian folk tradition. In the mountains, Marta let out strong snowstorms that froze the shepherd and his flocks.
A few local cultural practices are also part of a larger spring celebration, such as purification actions in Moldova. The main practice involves making, offering, and wearing a red and white thread (martenitsa), which then unties when the first blossom tree, swallow, or stork is seen. A wish may be made while the martenitsa is tied around their hand. As a matter of tradition, you can't throw it away until you see a stork or a sparrow. Both bird species spend the winter in Africa and return to Bulgaria in mid-March.
Tying it up to a blossom tree is another possibility. This artefact provides symbolic protection against capricious weather, with the practice of helping individuals, groups, and communities safely pass from winter to spring.
All members of the community involved, participate in this practice, which contributes to social cohesion, intergenerational exchanges, and interaction with nature, which fosters diversity and creativity. A majority of transmission occurred through informal education: in rural areas, young girls were taught by older women how to make the thread, while in urban areas apprentices learned through teachers, craftspeople, and informal education.
There are also Martenitsa workshops organized by ethnographic museums were another occasion for transmission. Hopefully, communities can be concerned and actively participate in inventorying, researching, documenting, and promoting the element, and numerous cultural projects are being undertaken to preserve it.