Bistrița-Năsăud, a land where past and present harmonize like colors in a peacock feather. The peacock is seen at the entrance to the county, but also on the nice holiday and dance hats of the sons of Salva, Mocod, Rebrișoara, Coșbuc.
Sign of distinction, but also of welfare, the crowns of peacock feathers with three, four or more rows of feathers on the young people’s hats have become in time emblems of the Bistriţa tradition.
Bistrița-Năsăud is a land with picturesque landscapes that combine the mountains bordering it in the North and North-East with Maramureş and Bucovina, with the hillocks and hills, where it loses itself toward the southern and western edges at the limit of neighboring Mureş and Cluj.
The mountain villages on the heights, with picturesque houses guarded by the woods, previously inhabited by peasants, miners and border guards in the time of the Empire, cities with mixed populations, deeply marked by the style of the old German colonists, the communes with hardworking and obliging people show us a delightful and friendly space, where people feel comfortable in the course of their traditional life and where the stranger is welcomed with hospitality and goodwill.
This county is the birthplace and land of inspiration for George Coșbuc, Liviu Rebreanu and for the national anthem lyrics written by Andrei Mureşanu, which originate from there as well.
They take pride in this and they value culture, tradition, learning, a county with authorities in writing, singing, and outstanding academics.
Bistrița-Năsăud has a rich tradition that taught its inhabitants to keep their identity, their nature and their characteristic qualities, but it has also allowed those brought there by major changes in history and those who have voluntarily arrived, to keep being themselves. Because respect gives birth to respect, to politeness one responds with politeness, and diversity brings beauty and wealth.
The traditional emblems of this county, which make it peculiar and singular in Transylvania and in the country, have not lost the battle with time, but have managed to preserve their authenticity. The beauty of villages, communes and towns has developed and conserved at the same time, and changes characteristic of modern standards have not destroyed the legacy inherited from our long history.
The people of Bistriţa, Năsăud, Bârgău, Ciceu, Călimani and the Plain have understood that promoting inherited values – our true hope chest transmitted from our forefathers – is a duty for those who have the privilege of administering these lands. The inhabitants of this area are proud of their inheritance and ready to work for the development of Bistriţa-Năsăud county in the direction requested by its belonging to a European country in the 21st century. They know that they are a part of a regional, national and European whole, and they try to offer something unique from the heritage created over the centuries in these places.
The Năsăud Mayfest, a patriotic holiday of the young people
The Năsăud pupils’ Mayfest (Maial in Romanian; Maifest in German) is one of their most popular holydays. Cultivated by patriotism and pride to be as good as you can, unaffected by the whims of time, always reborn and enriched, traditions have given strength and continuity to the over 150 year history of the border guard Secondary / High School. They have always stirred up the pupils’ thirst for learning, their desire for affirmation, or the adolescence nostalgia or longing of the graduates in all promotions.
The celebration that takes place every year in mid-May has its origins in an event of national history, being linked to the anniversary of the Great Assembly on the Liberty Field in Blaj on May 15, 1848, when the crowds gathered there and shouted in a voice “We want to unite with the country!”.
This festivity was initially held in the Dumbravă (Grove), on the western side of Năsăud, in order to avoid the watchful eyes of the authorities. There, students and teachers gathered after parading in folk costumes, led by the fanfare, and they peacefully celebrated this symbolically and emotionally charged historical event. The popular parade and the spectacle of the Năsăud pupils perpetuated over time, an opportunity to scroll dressed in the beautiful Năsăud costumes.
Mayfest in 2017 represented the opportunity for the Bistriţa-Năsăud county to enter the Book of Records, establishing two new world records, namely “The largest number of people simultaneously wearing the traditional Romanian costume” and “The largest Romanian folk dance, achieved synchronously, by 9,506 people”. Bistriţa-Năsăud managed this performance after 9,506 people, dressed in traditional folk costumes, gathered in Năsăud and took part in a popular dance called “Wheel of Runc”, which is played in Runcu Salvei commune.
(From the special edition of TB 86 – „ENJOY TRANSYLVANIA!” – May/June 2019)
