SMART TRAVELLER What’s new // Food // On the trail // Family // Inside guide // Stay at home SNAPSHOT Toni Cătălin,
Pogonești, Romania Toni, aged 16, dons a vibrant goat costume at the colourful Festival of Winter Customs in the small village of Pogonești in northeastern Romania. Villagers dress up as a goat, called ‘capra’ in Romanian, by wearing a dazzling, multicoloured costume adorned with mirrors, tinsel, beads, tassels, ribbons and bells, and even some goat or rabbit fur. It also comes with a wooden head, whose lower jaw bone is loose so it can clatter and make plenty of noise. Around Christmastime, the goat is accompanied by a group of singers; together they call at every house in the village and sing and dance in exchange for money, fruits and sweets. But as striking as it is, the costume's main aim is to disguise the wearer as they set off on their tour of the village. There are many such winter festivals all over Romania, mostly in the regions of Bucovina and Moldova. ALECSANDRA RALUCA DRĂGOI // PHOTOGRAPHER