Kırklareli celebrates horror festival Koleda

KIRKLARELİ

Koleda, 1,000-year-old tradition of the Balkans, has been celebrated in a village of the northwestern province of Kırklareli’s Babaeski district, with villagers wearing strange clothes frightening people by knocking on the windows of their houses.

The horror nights are held under different names by people in various settlements of Thrace in the coldest days of winter.

The night is celebrated with the name “Koleda” in the Büyükmandıra village of the Babaeski district.

In the 1,000-year-old tradition, people tell scary stories and then walk through the windows of houses wearing scary costumes.

According to the belief, those who cook and eat pumpkin dessert at home are not afraid of those who hit the window, while people who do not cook pumpkins are afraid.