"Pie Festival"
When the word “Pie Festival” comes to your mind, you
typically think of a fair with carnival games and pie judging contests. There
would probably be booths selling baked goods and homemade jams and goodies as
well as every pie you could imagine.
Macedonia has a very different Pie Festival. The festival
took place in my town, Veles. It began on Friday and lasted until late Sunday
night. This pie is unlike any pie I have ever seen. It appears to be more of a
pizza or “pita” as Macedonians also call it. This oval shaped creation has a
think crust with egg and lamb baked into the middle. Hope you aren’t watching
your sodium intake when eating this because you would your levels would be off
the charts! This is why the Macedonians eat this delicacy with wine, particularly
red wine. White wine is also served but red is the wine of choice.
A close up of the Pie!
Wine Vendors
Selling Pie and the Macedonian dessert
The main street was closed for the festival and dozens of
tents were assembled in the middle of the street along with tables, chairs,
refrigerators and booths for various venders. There was a stage set up in the
middle of the festival with speakers lining the streets so that from any point
on the main street you could hear the traditional Macedonian music blasting in
your ears.
Various booths selling wines lined the outer boarders of the
tests. One vendor even had crates of grapes and a barrel full of wine. It
appears that were making some of their wine on site. There was only one vendor
selling a traditional Macedonian cake. There were street vendors selling
balloons and various light up toys for the children. The atmosphere at this
festival is warm and inviting and is a kid friendly environment. This was
completely surprising to me because in America, typically when alcohol is
involved, the environment is anything but kid friendly. People sit around the
tables in the street with their families for hours eating pie and drinking
wine. The people are relaxed without an agenda. This pace of life is extremely
enjoyable. Macedonians value time with family and this weekend was a glimpse
into this main value in their culture.
On Friday I attended the festival with a few friends and
only tried the crust of the pie since I don’t eat the meat. It was very salty
but it seems that everyone enjoyed it. Pitas are at every vendor during the
lower times but come dinnertime, there is a mad rush for pies and you have to
wait hours before your pie is ready.
On Saturday I had TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign
Language) training and all of the volunteers from the other towns and cities
came to Veles for the training. They arranged for a restaurant to make pies and
vegetarian pizzas for all of the volunteers so everyone could enjoy the pie
experience. The other volunteers would return back to their placements shortly
after the training and wouldn’t have enough time to attend the festival.
This festival was both refreshing and relaxing. Seeing how
much the Macedonians value spending time with one another was refreshing.
Coming America, we often have the “hurry disease” and are always on a schedule
going from place to place. The people here value their time spend with each
other over work or watching TV (unless is football!). It is refreshing to see
that family does matter and is the main priority here as well as following
traditions. Overall, this was a fantastic weekend full of many laughs and time
spent with family and friends.
Setting up the stage for the Serbian band
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