The file to register the celebration of the Fifteenth of August and the folk festival of Syracos together with the Vlasti of Kozani and the “trano dance” of the community there in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (UNESCO Convention 2003) was submitted by the Ministry of Education and Culture ., on March 31, 2020.
“The comprehensive protection of the intangible heritage, said the Minister of Culture and Sports, Mrs. Lina Mendoni, is absolutely necessary to preserve the special cultural identity and history of the local communities, but also to strengthen human creativity. On August 15, when the The Orthodox Church celebrates the Dormition of the Virgin, the Feasts of the Fifteenth of August had a special character in the mountainous pastoral communities. As families moved to the plains with their herds of goats and sheep in the winter, on the feast of the Virgin Mary, the fifteenth of August, the community celebrated its annual reunion. The submission of the file today is an important initiative, as the two festivals highlight the long cultural tradition of the communities, it contributes to the promotion of the special characteristics of the two mountainous communities and creates development prospects for the specific geographical units. The festivals have evolved, following the times and the changes in human societies, but they offer a good example of a smooth transition in the cultural practices of the now urbanized communities.
Today, mountain communities, such as Vlasti and Sirrako, have either been depopulated or deserted. However, the Tranos Choros in Vlasti and the Panigiri of Syracos on the 15th of August are two examples of events that even today symbolize the regrouping of two mountain communities, whose members have been dispersed in the urban centers and abroad, due to urbanization and immigration. But the annual celebratory performances, for which they return to the community of origin and affirm the cohesive “sense of belonging”, constitute intangible cultural heritage that deserves to be preserved and promoted.
Annual celebrations of the renewal of ties between people of common origin but distant permanent residence bring to the fore a wealth of cultural practices that supported their communities in their heyday: Their music and songs refer to their relationship with their nature and history. The way each and every one takes their place in the circle dance reflects the values that hold them together as a community: Respect for age, skill and experience.
It should be noted that these values, but also dance, songs and music are transmitted to the younger generations through the activities of their Cultural Associations in their places of permanent residence, so that young people enthusiastically participate in the Vlasti dances and Syracuse, but also with an awareness of the order that governs them.
At the same time, through the activities of the Cultural Associations, during their summer stay in the mountainous places of origin, a number of important cultural elements are transmitted. It is worth mentioning the rich cheese-making tradition of Vlasti, as well as the Vlach language in Sirrakos, as the community was bilingual in the past. The Vlach idiom of Syracuse is heard again in some of the songs of the festival, giving the younger people the opportunity to familiarize themselves with a little-spoken language. Thus, the festival of Syracuse contributes to the preservation of both cultural and linguistic diversity.
In Vlasti, where the population decline is not as intense as in Sirrakos, small cheese-making units still operate that offer products of high nutritional and organoleptic value, the production of which constitutes another expression of the intangible cultural traditions of the region. And for these, such as the cheese called “manouri”, the community of producers is preparing to register them in the National Intangible Cultural Heritage Index.
The Directorate of Newer Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture and Sports and the National Scientific Committee for the Implementation of the Convention on the Intangible Cultural Heritage have chosen to submit to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (UNESCO Convention 2003) for registration these two festivals, as representative of the celebrations of the Fifteenth of August in mountainous Greece, considering both the conscious effort of the two communities to preserve their intangible cultural heritage, and the fact that the two events are good practices, regarding the transmission of dance traditions.
The dances of Syracos and Vlasti are performed with respect to the social and cultural context that created them, as group events, with their full meaning and not as folklore representations. More about the two festivals can be found in the National Index of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Greece: http://ayla.culture.gr.
