On August 2nd, 1903, a small band of revolutionaries succeeded in freeing the Macedonian mountain town of Kruševo from the Ottoman Empire. Immediately, the Republic of Kruševo declared itself an independent state, with Nikola Karev as its president. But the dream of freedom was fleeting. After ten days, the Ottomans sent an overwhelming force into the hills and crushed the uprising.
Macedonia’s most well-known traditional gathering is the Gali&ccaron;nik Wedding Festival, held annually in a Mijak mountain village above Lake Mavrovo. This festival has a history stretching back centuries, and thousands of revelers still flock here every year for the music, rituals, games, drinking and fun. It sounds incredible… but we wouldn’t know for sure, because we never made it.