Drăgaica is the traditional Midsummer

Midsummer

Midsummer may simply refer to the period of time centered upon the summer solstice, but more often refers to specific European celebrations that accompany the actual solstice, or that take place on a day between June 21 and June 24, and the preceding evening. The exact dates vary between different...

 fair

Fair

A fair or fayre is a gathering of people to display or trade produce or other goods, to parade or display animals and often to enjoy associated carnival or funfair entertainment. It is normally of the essence of a fair that it is temporary; some last only an afternoon while others may ten weeks. ...

 held annually in Buzău

Buzau

The city of Buzău is the county seat of Buzău County, Romania, in the historical region of Wallachia. It lies near the right bank of the Buzău River, between the south-eastern curvature of the Carpathian Mountains and the lowlands of Bărăgan Plain.The city's name dates back to 376 AD when the name...

, Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

. It takes place every year between 10 and 24 June.

History

The Drăgaica fair was initially a wool

Wool

Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....

 trading fair held in the mountain side of the Buzău River

Buzau River

Buzău is a river in eastern Romania, tributary of the Siret River. Its total length is 302 km. Its source is in the south-eastern Carpathian Mountains, east of Braşov. The Buzău flows through the Romanian counties Braşov, Covasna, Buzău and Brăila...

 valley, every year, after the sheep shearing

Sheep shearing

Sheep shearing, shearing or clipping is the process by which the woollen fleece of a sheep is cut off. The person who removes the sheep's wool is called a shearer. Typically each adult sheep is shorn once each year...

. Eventually, the fair moved to Buzău

Buzau

The city of Buzău is the county seat of Buzău County, Romania, in the historical region of Wallachia. It lies near the right bank of the Buzău River, between the south-eastern curvature of the Carpathian Mountains and the lowlands of Bărăgan Plain.The city's name dates back to 376 AD when the name...

, as shown by a document dated 26 August 1778 issued by Alexandru Ipsilanti by which full jurisdiction on the organization and the tax collection rights for the fair were granted to the Buzău bishopric

Diocese

A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...

.

Mihai Şuţu

Mihai Sutu

Mihai Draco Suţu was a Prince of Moldavia between 1792 and 1795. A member of the Soutzos family of Phanariotes, he was the uncle of Mihail Suţu, himself a ruler of Moldavia between 1819 and 1821.-Third ruler of Wallachia:...

 reinforced the bishopric's privileges on the collection of taxes from the fair in a 1792 letter:
In 1806, Buzău was burnt to the ground by the Ottoman army during the Russo-Turkish War of 1806-1812, and the city's inhabitants took refuge in the villages in the nearby hills. The fair was thus suspended until 1829, when it was resumed in a rebuilt Buzău.

The Drăgaica fair is still being held in Buzău, once a year, for two weeks, in June.