Bangkok Post

The Japanese welcome each spring with picnics under cherry blossoms. In Romania and Bulgaria, it is greeted with the exchange of a little amulet with red and white strings, a rural tradition that has morphed into urban fashion.

The ritual takes place on March 1 when parents and children, men and women, politicians, artists, villagers and city dwellers offer each other a "martisor" (in Romania) or a "martenitsa" (in Bulgaria) as a sign of friendship.

In Bulgaria, even pets are graced with little white and red strings to celebrate the new season.

Trendy boutiques have now embraced the practice and defended it as anything but outdated.

"Martisor is not an old-fashioned bit of tradition because spring is a universal symbol of renewal and hope," said Carmen Miron, a 23-year-old Romanian working in a Bucharest concept store.

"We, the young people, have renewed the tradition by giving it a more modern and practical touch," she said.

In Romania, thousands of students and young people make their own "martisoare" (plural of "martisor") and sell them in makeshift markets that crop up in every city and town during the week prior to the event.

In neighbouring Bulgaria, the "martenitsa" craft generates sales estimated at up to 15 million euros (20 million dollars) a year, according to Pressa newspaper.

Factory-made amulets from China have started to pour into the region, but many people still prefer the local hand-made models.

Shopkeeper Miron, who creates her own "martisoare", says designers have adapted the traditional amulets into brooches or accessories that can be worn even after the end of March.

This year, for example, she wanted "my martisoare to give people a feeling of sun, light and warmth" so painted stones from a Greek island with suns and tulips.

Despite its rural origins, the amulet has now become an urban fashion statement in Romania, with models crafted in leather, felt, carved wood or recycled materials.

"Farmers used to mark the arrival of every season. On March 1st, they used to attach white (for purity) and red (vitality, passion) strings around trees or on the bulls' horns for protection and luck", Lila Passima, a researcher at the Museum of the Romanian Peasant, the most famous ethnographic institution in Romania, told AFP.

"Around 1900, cities took over this tradition and transformed it in an artistic way," she said. "So, we are still celebrating the arrival of spring though our societies are less close to nature than peasants were."

In Bulgaria, the red and white strings that sometimes take the form of a boy and a girl called Pijo and Penda are supposed to be worn until the first stork is seen. Then, the martenitsa is to be attached to a tree.

Moves are afoot to ensure the trend is kept alive, according to Iulia Iordan from Dragul Artei, an organisation specialised in intangible heritage.

Some Bucharest companies, such as the Pelinari law firm, have started organising "martisor" workshops. "They asked us to explain the legends around this tradition to the employees' children and to teach them how to make their own martisoare," Iordan said.

This year, the Bulgarian newspaper Standart launched a campaign to have the tradition recognised by UNESCO (the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) as an intangible cultural heritage.

"Martenitsa is one of the most authentic Bulgarian traditions," it wrote. "In our contemporary world where borders tend to disappear, martenitsa make us, Bulgarians, different, unique, interesting."