Brestovitza village, Southern Bulgaria - Diplomats and politicians joined vine growers and winemakers in Plovdiv Region on Wednesday to honour the Day of Saint Tryphon the Trimmer (Tryphon Zarezan), who in the Orthodox Church is the patron saint of wine. The feast day - officially on February 1 - is usually celebrated on February 14, as per the Old Style, due to its greater proximity to the beginning of spring and the blossoming of the vines.

The festival, which has been celebrated since ancient times, and traditionally over a three-day period, began with a procession in the village of Brestovitza on Wednesday. Church banners, traditional "horo" dances and a "kuker" (similar to mummer) carnival accompanied the day`s celebrations, which proceeded out to the Byalo Pole (White Field) locality. This, the region`s largest vineyard, was consecrated with holy water by local priests.

The ceremony concluded with a ritual pruning (the word for which is "zaryazvane", from the saint`s name) of the vines. Plovdiv Regional Governor Todor Petkov, Japanese Ambassador Tsuneharu Takeda, Danish Ambassador Kaare E. Janson and Spanish Ambassador Fernando Arias Gonzalez pruned the first vines in the ritual, which hopes to bring a healthy and abundant harvest.

Meanwhile, local winemakers were presenting their produce in the central square in Brestovitza throughout the day.

Plovdiv Vine and Wine Chamber data shows that there are currently eighteen large-scale wine producers with a further sixty smaller winemakers registered in the region.