Sheep return festival, definition that can only lead you to think at a lot of curly fur which covesr the sheep’s eyes are taken every morning to pasture. But this sort of tradition is far from what the title could inspire. The festival takes place in Bran, a 20 kilometers ride from Brasov and is all about cheese and sheep. The real ewe’s cheese covered in pine bark and the sheep returning to their owners after the long journey through mountains.
The traditional festival is wide spread because it gathers people from all around the country and also foreign tourists transiting Bran. The sheep return actually ends the pasture year and this is an opportunity for people to meet on the tableland in Bran and taste the various range of meat and cheese, all representing the tradition of people living in Bran.
This is mainly a festival of traditions and the traditional music, dances and traditional costumes from Bran (the high fur hats and the original sheepskin coats) could not miss. Among the other specialties are the traditional cheese chunk (bulz) and the original smoked-dried salt sheep meat (pastrami). The sheep return is not only the opportunity to delight with food products but also to see the handmade objects presented by craftsmen from all around the country.
Anyone who is around Brasov or even Bran at the end of September should not miss such a festival, which surely delight the taste buds with the traditional – spices and turned on by the grills preparing all these goods. We consider this as a real chance to get to know the old but still present pastoral traditions captured during the sheep return festival.