Dita e Verës

Dita e Verës or Verëza (English "Summer Day") is an Albanian spring festival and pagan holiday celebrated in Albania on March 14 of the Gregorian calendar (March 1 of the Julian calendar). In the old Albanian calendar, Verëza corresponds to the first three days of the new year (Kryeviti, Kryet e Motmotit, Motmoti i Ri, Nata e Mojit) and marks the end of the winter season (the second half of the year) and the beginning of the summer season (the first half of the year) on the spring equinox. Dita e Verës has its roots in traditional Albanian, Greek and Roman religions.

Description
Dita e Verës is celebrated on March 1 of the Julian calendar, the first day of the new year (which is March 14 in the Gregorian calendar). It is celebrated both in the Northern and Southern regions, but with regional differences. Bonfires are traditionally lit in yards elsewhere in Albania with the function to drive away the darkness of the winter season and for the strengthening of the Sun.

The shrine of Diana of Cermenika, located in the Albanian city of Elbasan, celebrates Diana the goddess of forests, greenery and nature. The distinctive sign of this holiday is baking ballokume, a sugar cookie made with Albanian corn. In Lezha, Dita e Verës fires are lit to signify the sun's purity and strength. Although the holiday continues to be highlighted in the ancient city of Elbasan, it is celebrated by all Albanians. A Red and White wool bracelet called "Verore" is worn to celebrate the beginning of summer. This along with other March Summer Balkan traditions is a UNESCO recognized "intangible cultural heritage".

The holiday maintains a family and traditional atmosphere, in which parents, children and families celebrate together. On this day Albanians congratulate each other on living long and happy lives. Families would jump over a small fire, signifying a full cleansing going into a new year.

Thanas Meksi, a renowned researcher and musicologist, divided the festival into four phases:


 * 1) Preparatory Phase: This begins with the collection of necessary items for the Summer Day.
 * 2) Summer Night: Starting on the evening of March 13, this phase is marked by fire.
 * 3) Morning of Summer Day: Commences on March 14, bringing joy and festivity.
 * 4) Summer Day Picnic: Held at noon on March 14, this phase embodies communal celebration.

Rituals of the Summer Day include washing eyes with summer flowers, drinking water from "the pig's trough" (a wild spring found underground in forested areas), symbolizing a healthy and prosperous year. Another tradition is the boiling of eggs on the night of March 13th and washing the eyes with this water on the morning of March 14th.

The morning of March 14 begins with visits to relatives, where the youngest son delivers shared goods. The picnic starts at 10:00 am, although in recent years activities have begun an hour earlier. Albanians head to scenic spots for this celebration. Each year, the festival evolves, reflecting the spirit of its people. Elbasan becomes a pilgrimage center on March 14, with the entire city dressing up in vibrant decorations. The local government allocates special funds for the festival, planning concerts, traditional games, and comedic performances in tourist spots and parks, enhancing the festive atmosphere and community bonding.

Ballokume
Ballokume is a dessert unique to Elbasan and is synonymous with the Summer Day celebration. It's widely enjoyed across Albania and in Albanian communities around the world. This cookie is especially associated with Dita e Verës. The name Ballokume is believed to have originated from a 15th-century Ottoman ruler's exclamation, "Është ba si llokume!" which means "It’s as good as a lokum!" after tasting a small cake made from corn flour cooked in a wood fire. This term, over time, evolved into Ballokume.

The primary ingredients of Ballokume include butter, sugar, eggs, and cornflour. Traditionally, it is kneaded in a copper bowl to enhance the texture of the dough, a process that involves vigorous kneading, often done by men in the household due to the strength required. The cookie sometimes contains finj, a mixture of ashes from a wood stove boiled in water, adding a unique flavor to the cookie.

Traditions across regions
Source:

Tropoja
In Tropojë, this season gathers many people in the village of Luzhë, where they seek help and prosperity from tombs that have now been turned into idols. Adults and children travel for kilometers across mountainous terrains to reach these truly sacred and divine tombs.

Dibra
In Dibër, children light fires in the evening. Around four in the morning, people there wake up "to close the doors." This term means to wake up early and tie the gate's lock with wool. The symbolism of this action is not known. Boiled eggs are also an indicator of this day in Dibra.

Elbasan
Elbasan is believed to be the birthplace of the so-called Summer Day. In Elbasan, the festive dimensions are larger than anywhere else. They take on a popular character, and participation is at a national level. Songs, dances, crowds filling the city, boiled eggs painted in various colors, and the famous sweets called Ballokume that fill the markets. On this day, citizens from many cities of the country visit the city of Elbasan.

Skrapar and Lushnjë
In Skrapar and Lushnjë once the verore is removed, a wish is thought of, and then the bracelet is thrown into a bush or rose, or placed on a tree branch in the hope that a swallow will come to take it to build its nest, thereby fulfilling the thought wish.

On this day, children in Skrapar go door to door singing the song of Summer Day, receiving as gifts colored eggs which they crack on each other's heads. The typical dish of Skrapar for this festival, besides Ballokume, is also Anak (a type of pie) with wild greens. Just like in Tropojë, in the evening, fires are lit to produce smoke, bidding farewell to the old and the bad, while children sing and dance around the fire.

In Lushnjë, along with eggs, corn and wheat are also boiled to give to the children that come singing. Despite this, in Lushnjë Summer Day is not always celebrated on March 14; in fact, for Orthodox Christians, it is celebrated on March 1, while Muslims celebrate it on March 14.

Berat
The celebration starts early in the morning with groups of children from neighborhoods of this city. The children, dressed as if in the day of the carnivals improvising the devil, appeared with various masks as a symbol of the Summer Day festival.

Various groups of children from kindergartens, schools, and high schools with their masks have traversed all the roads leading to the city's central square, performing humorous gestures. On the other hand, a car is displayed, which has the portrait of the devil on its body, ahead of which a carriage with brides symbolizes the day of the celebration.

Korcë
Korçë, along with Kolonjë, are regions that utilize both calendars for the celebration of the Summer Day. In these areas, the festival is celebrated on both March 1st and March 14th. Particularly on March 14 and on the evening before, the youth and children of Korçë roam through the city's neighborhoods lighting fires. Traditionally, children compete to find more scraps to make the biggest fire. Then, for prosperity, everyone tries to jump over the fire as a symbol of successfully overcoming winter's cold, the revival, and the warming of the blood that Spring brings. Families in their homes bake sweet or salty cakes, symbolizing life, revival, and abundance.

Kosovo
The Summer Day, also known as "Dita e Verëzës," has been celebrated in the Kosovo. The festivities include young men and women going out to village squares and mountainsides, gathering the first flowers of the season, dancing, singing, lighting fires, and preparing special dishes made with corn and wheat flour, which are similar yet distinct from Elbasan's ballokume. This festival is celebrated with the belief that the Summer Day brings luck, health, prosperity, rejuvenation, and human love, and the rituals are connected with the awakening of vegetation, the revival of life, and the transition from winter to spring.

Albanians in North Macedonia
In North Macedonia ethnologist Afet Jashari notes that for this festival various caves such as the Vertop Cave or the Red Water Cave are visited. It is believed that washing with their water, especially on Summer Day, brings fertility and good luck for women, health for children.