December is the month in which the carolers appear in the busy life of my city Galati. The first was a small troop of bears.
The game of bears a very archaic habit, no researcher has managed to find the root of the tradition.
In some areas of the Moldovan region there are huge shows attended by various categories of bears, spectators come from hundreds of kilometers.
The troop must have from three bears up, a leader, a shepherd, a few drummers and various singers.
They must be dressed in genuine bear fur, those who accompany them must be dressed in traditional clothing.
People offer them money, fruit, sweets or drinks for adult bears.
I hope you don’t get scared of what’s next.
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Beautiful @To_paul was it from this festival that Werewolf came about?
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I didn’t go to the festival because there is a lot of noise, but it is close to my town, about 120 km.
what is in the photos and the video is in my city. Yesterday I photographed bears
thanks
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Alright, thanks for the clarification @To_paul
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Fascinating information @To_paul
Hope these “Bears” are not attacking the onlookers!
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Hi @To_paul
I really loved your post very much. I know that December is a month of Celebrations, Christmas, lights, 
etc. etc. But this information is new to me. Thanks for posting.
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Hi @To_paul
Nice report and beautiful pictures.
Regards from Slovakia.
When i was young i remeber this comediants dressed to bear, but that was long time ago…
Thanks for sharing.
Karol
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@C_T read here about bears, which is better explained.
You must use a good translator because it is written in Romanian
Sometimes it happens towards the evening that the bears make a scandal, usually the bears drink wine and stronger drinks.
Then it is a true show, all children run away from them
Thank you very much
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Hi @Gurukrishnapriya I will contribute more information, in the next days groups with many bears will appear and organize more beautiful
Thank you very much
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Hi @KarolT
In the city now come many groups with bears, In the past they were not allowed to enter the cities,
The militia and then the police forbade their access.
Thank you very much
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Thank you @To_paul for your showers of likes.
Surely will wait for your posts. Really it’s always good to know about different cultures. I am really preveleged to be part of this group.
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I really appreciate your message @Gurukrishnapriya
Thank you very much
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** @To_paul **
Great photo.
Is it a collective of people or an organization? Many teams in the city or one team. They just dance in the courtyards or in a special place. From advertise or do they just go where they look?
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@user_not_found Usually bear groups are not from the city, they come into town and walk the streets all day. Especially in front of neighborhood bars, there he earns a lot of money
The bears are part of the winter customs of the Romanians, there are numerous groups and folklore ensembles participating in festivals
I hope you like the links, even if you do not understand the Romanian language, you will hear a lot of musical instruments
Thanks
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Hi @To_paul !
Impresive game !!! They really look like bears! as you said they are wearing true bear fur
A bit scary yes… : ))))
Greetings from the South of Spain,
Alejandra.
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When I was a kid I didn’t think it was a fake bear.
I was happy, and I was telling friends about the bear.
Children and today if I see him on the street I say he is a real bear.
And they are happy.
Some lyrics in the song of the game
, My bear from Spain
I brought him with the sled!
Play, play, crazy bear
That I don’t make your skin ash! ,
The source is wikipedia
Thank you very much
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You can perfectly say that they are real bear @To_paul . They totally look like real!!!
And the song mention Spain, interesnting… In the North of Spain, there are bears in the Mountains .
Greetings from the South of Spain,
Alejandra.
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There are several versions of lyrics for the New Year’s Bear Game, the word Spain appears in many of them, it can only be like rhyme.
Or it was used to give a certain importance to the bear.
We appreciate everything that comes from certain countries.
Romania has always had bears, and now has 6300 bears.
That’s why I don’t think the bear was brought from Spain
Thank you very much
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@To_paul Impressive tradition! I have never heard about something similar. I wouldn’t want to meet such bear in the dark evening street after the performance!
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