Paper short abstract:

This paper presents a model of the socialist urban festivity in Bulgaria, its cultural legacy. The text compares this model with contemporary forms of community gatherings of the Bulgarian diaspora in Chicago.

Paper long abstract:

This paper explores the forms of urban festivity during socialism in Bulgaria and during post-socialism of the Bulgarian community in the USA. Empirical material (interviews, participant observation, visual materials and data from electronic and paper media) from the town of Rousse in Bulgaria and from the city of Chicago in the USA is used for the purposes of the study.

The text outlines the most frequently discussed in the interviews celebrations during the socialist period in Bulgaria and in the post-socialism times in the USA. The goal of this research is to present a model of the socialist urban festivity, its cultural legacy and to compare this model with contemporary forms of community gatherings of the Bulgarian diaspora in Chicago. It addresses how the socialist legacy reflects the present-day forms of the Bulgarian celebrations in the USA. Additionally, the paper discusses how the cultural heritage of Bulgarian migrants to the USA is reshaped, transformed and even invented in the struggle for identity, meaning, power and economic benefits in the host country.