The simple, but impressive custom that has remained unchanged, makes Pella on the night before Christmas Eve illuminated and the sky on fire. It is revived every year on Christmas Eve (23 December) in open-air areas, stadiums, squares and other open spaces. In the neighborhoods of the municipality of Pella, wood and tree trunks are stacked in a pyramidal arrangement and set on fire as soon as the sun sets. Many of them often reach a height of up to 15 meters, and if the wind blows the flames and ashes form a vortex in the sky, spreading heat and ashes into the atmosphere. There is plenty of wine, traditional food and music. Parties of all ages gather around the bonfires to sing, eat, dance and enjoy the opportunity of being outside in December month! Feasting and dancing are set up in all neighborhoods until the early hours of the morning.
The interpretations of the custom are many. The most prevalent one associates it with the slaughter of infants by King Herod. Fires are lit as a sign to warn and prevent evil. Another hypothesis interprets the fires as a way to drive out the goblins, who saw the tree of life and want it to fall so they can rise to the surface of the Earth. The flames frighten them and drive them back to the bowels of the Earth in the hope that they will never return. Bonfires are a custom with pagan roots associated with fertility and the cycle of life.
