"Clean Monday" Kaina Camel Festival
Clean Monday is the beginning of Lent in the Orthodox calendar and there are many traditions associated with it. This year I attended the Kaina "Camel Festival" The Camel festival in Kaina is unique and comes from the depths of centuries. All the residents of the village start the preparations for the construction of the camel and the "smudge" very early in the morning. About 8am the preparations begin. The children gather together help each other to make our costumes. The adults are involved in the construction of the camel, having gathered the necessary materials from the previous day. Around 10am they begin the construction. The Camel is a Dionysian and first appeared in the 19th century. The camel is made with a wooden frame, two baskets which make the two humps of a camel, one paletsa (type of nylon fabric used for the collection of olives) and the skeleton of the head of a donkey. Inside the skull is placed a spool to snap his mouth by pulling...
