Palm Sunday - Tsvetnitsa

Palm Sunday (Tsvetnitsa) is a Christian moveable feast which always falls on the Sunday before Easter Sunday. On the Sunday after Lazaritsa, the maids that had danced as lazarki would gather and go to the river. They would pick blossoming willow twigs and twine them into wreaths. That's how the present-day tradition of buying willow twigs and have them blessed at the church was born. It is still a common practice to fix willow twigs on the front door to ensure the good health and vigour of the family. On Tsvetnitsa people go to church carrying flowers and this particular custom has given the name of the festival.Tsvetnitsa is celebrated as the name day of all those bearing names that correspond with the name of some flower.