Vodici Festival is an Orthodox of religion festival. It is to celebrate the day of baptism of Christian on 19 January. In some east European country eg. Macedonian, Bosnia, Serbia etc. it also calls Epiphany festival, it is a religious family gatherings.
Traditional ceremony is church service. People wear traditional costume and go to church to celebrate the "Cross". There is a procession from the church to the nearest body of water, such as a river or a lake. A priest blesses the water and river or lake, throws Cross into it. A young people jump and dive into the river or lake to find the cross. The one who find the cross will pickup the cross and hold it in hand, then raises his hand highly and shows the cross to other people. The priest will bless the man, other people give gifts to the man and believe the man will have a very exiting year coming up, the man is regarded a lucky man for the year.
People take some blessed water from the lake or river and put it into a small bottle and bring it to home. The water will be used for putting it into body, as a symbol of purity and protection from illness. After church celebration is the open house. Family members, friends, guests etc. bring food, drink, wine and others to a house for celebration. The food is buffet, and including beef, special pork and vegetables.
The most interesting vodici (Epiphany) Festivals in Macedonia are in Skopje in the Stone Bridge over the river Vardar and in Ohrid on the Lake.
