Anastenaria

The Anastenaria (Greek: Αναστενάρια, Bulgarian: Нестинарство, romanized: Nestinarstvo) is a traditional barefoot firewalking ritual with ecstatic dance performed in some villages in Northern Greece and Southern Bulgaria.

[1][2][3] The Bulgarian and Greek villages perform a unique annual ritual cycle, which begins on May 21 and ends on May 23 every year.

In the evening a fire is lit in an open space, and after dancing for some time in the konaki, the anastenarides go to it carrying their icons.

The head nestinar's house was sacred, because it housed the stolnina (столнина) – a small chapel where icons of several saints were arranged, as well as a sacred drum used specifically for the ritual and believed to cure the drummer if he was ill.[7][8] In the 20th century the ritual became commercialized and is performed for tourists in the seaside resorts of the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast by people who have little to do with the original tradition.

[1][9][10] While visiting Bulgaria on July 11th 2024, famous streamer iShowSpeed attempted the ritual on a YouTube IRL stream.