10 Leva Kukeri

The kukeri are ritual mummers who perform midwinter ceremonies across Bulgaria — and parts of neighboring Balkan countries — wearing elaborate costumes hung with large bells intended to drive off evil spirits and ensure fertile harvests. The tradition predates Christianity in the region and has survived largely intact in rural communities despite decades of Soviet-era cultural policy that alternately suppressed and selectively promoted folk practices as nationalist showcases.

Bulgaria's commemorative silver program has returned to ethnographic subjects repeatedly since the 1990s, and this issue was released as part of that ongoing series documenting intangible cultural heritage recognized by UNESCO in 2009.