Kolesheno Festival

On Saturday I attended a festival at the Kolesheno waterfall in Novo Selo, Macedonia. The festival will be held annually as a draw for tourists to the region. The waterfall is located in a rural area, about a 15 minute walk through the woods on a gravel and dirt path. When we arrived, the representatives of the municipality (which sponsored the event) were busy passing out homemade desserts, wine, and traditional foods. The event began with the world premiere of a song commissioned for the region, and proceeded with singing and traditional dancing. All of these took place on a temporary stage that was erected in front of the falls- what an amazing venue! My favorite part of the event was seeing all these kids milling around in their traditional dance costumes, looking like some apparition from the past. The food was great- a sweet, babka-like bread and another, even sweeter pastry that was like baklava rolls drenched in simple syrup. All in all, a lovely way to spend a Saturday.