Balkan tradition where neighbors are scared: Bocuk Night
In the Çamlıca village of Edirne’s Keşan district, local people went from door to door wearing horrible make-up and clothes to keep the tradition known as “Bocuk Night” alive.
According to a tradition from the Middle Ages, people scare their neighbors by wearing a chador saying “Bocuk is coming” in order not to be afraid of the cold and evil in the coldest nights of winter.
According to the belief, zucchini was also cooked in houses so that the creature called ‘Bocuk’ would not come to the house and do evil. It is believed that the “boy”, dressed in white and disguised as a human, will not come to the house where the zucchini is being cooked and do evil.
It is also believed that if the wood thrown into the water at night is found frozen in the water in the morning, the people in that house will be healthy, healthy, durable and strong throughout that year.
The night, which could not be held for two years due to the pandemic, was also attended by the surrounding provinces this year. Keşan Municipality aims to continue the tradition and attract tourists to the region. For this purpose, music concerts were also exhibited at the events held for the 16th time this year.
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