AP PHOTOS: Dancing with the bears lives on as a unique custom in Romania

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Amalia, 16 years-old, a member of the Sipoteni bear pack, poses for a portrait in Comanesti, northern Romania, Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023. Amalia first wore the bear fur costume when she was 4 years-old, loves the team atmosphere in the bear pack and feels it’s important for the centuries old tradition to live on. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

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Razvan, 11 years-old, a member of the Sipoteni bear pack, poses for a portrait in Comanesti, northern Romania, Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023. Razvan first wore the bear fur costume when he was 9 years-old, likes the feeling he gets from wearing it and loves to dance. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

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Catalina, 18 years-old, a member of the Sipoteni bear pack, poses for a portrait in Comanesti, northern Romania, Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023. Catalina first wore the bear fur costume when she was 15 years-old, feels joy when wearing the costume and is proud to be a part of the centuries tradition. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

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Eduard, 15 years-old, a member of the Sipoteni bear pack, poses for a portrait in Comanesti, northern Romania, Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023. Eduard first wore the bear fur costume when he was 6 years-old, loves the outfit and making his grandparents and father proud that he continues in their footsteps by being a member of a bear pack. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

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Mitica, 56 years-old, a member of the Sipoteni bear pack, poses for a portrait in Comanesti, northern Romania, Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023. Mitica first wore the bear fur costume when he was 6 years-old and says he cannot imagine a greater pleasure than dancing in a bear pack during the holiday season. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

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Madalin, 16 years-old, a member of the Sipoteni bear pack, poses for a portrait in Comanesti, northern Romania, Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023. Madalin first wore the bear fur costume when he was 4 years-old and feels proud to continue a tradition that goes back in his family for generations. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

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Maria, 22 years-old, a member of the Sipoteni bear pack, poses for a portrait in Comanesti, northern Romania, Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023. Maria first wore the bear fur costume when she was 5 years old and feels a connection to her departed father who introduced her to the tradition 17 years ago, shortly before his death. She feels the bear dance chases the bad spirits away and liberates her soul. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

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Costi, 11 years-old, a member of the Sipoteni bear pack, poses for a portrait in Comanesti, northern Romania, Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023. Costi first wore the bear fur costume when he was 3 years-old, loves to dance and hear the pounding sound of drums. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

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Denisa, 15 years-old, a member of the Sipoteni bear pack, poses for a portrait in Comanesti, northern Romania, Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023. Denisa first wore the bear fur costume when she was 10 years-old loves to dance along with her fellow pack members. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

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Sergiu, 24 years-old, a member of the Sipoteni bear pack, poses for a portrait in Comanesti, northern Romania, Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023. Sergiu first wore the bear fur costume when he was 7 years-old says he only feels whole when he wears the outfit and loves the adrenaline rush he gets from hearing the music and dancing with the pack. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

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Marian, 35 years-old, a member of the Sipoteni bear pack, poses for a portrait in Comanesti, northern Romania, Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023. Marian first wore the bear fur costume when he was 6 years-old, never missed a festival since and hopes his children will take the unique tradition into the future. Marian says he would give up anything in live but not the dancing bear tradition. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

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Andra, 15 years-old, a member of the Sipoteni bear pack, poses for a portrait in Comanesti, northern Romania, Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023. Andra first wore the bear fur costume when she was 6 years-old, gets an adrenaline rush when wearing the outfit and feels the tradition connects the generations and also brings young people together in a meaningful way. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

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David, 13 years-old, a member of the Sipoteni bear pack, poses for a portrait in Comanesti, northern Romania, Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023. David first wore the bear fur costume when he was 5 years-old and is proud to be a part of a centuries old tradition. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

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Stefania, 22 years-old, a member of the Sipoteni bear pack, poses for a portrait in Comanesti, northern Romania, Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023. Stefania first wore the bear fur costume when she was 17 years-old and loves to dance. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

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Costel, 46 years-old, the founder of the Sipoteni bear pack, poses for a portrait in Comanesti, northern Romania, Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023. Costel, who first wore the bear fur costume when he was 8 years-old, says “the bear runs through our veins, it is the spirit animal for those in this area”. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

By VADIM GHIRDA and ANDREEA ALEXANDRU

COMANESTI, Romania (AP) — A small industrial town in northeast Romania may seem like an unlikely tourist destination, but Comanesti is where huge numbers of visitors from as far away as Japan choose to spend part of the winter holiday season.

They converge here to see an annual event that grew out of a millennia-old tradition in the Moldavia region: Bearskin-clad people of all ages, organized in packs, marching and dancing to the deafening sound of drums in several rows of gaping jaws and claws.

The Dancing Bears Festival, as the custom has become known, starts in the days before Christmas and ends with a spectacular finale in Comanesti on Dec. 30. Some of the “bears” jokingly growl or mock an attack on spectators.

The bearskins the dancers wear, which can weigh as much as 50 kilograms (110 pounds), are passed on from generation to generation. The packs carefully guard the methods they use to keep the furs in good condition and ready to wear the next year.

One of the more established groups is the Sipoteni Bear Pack, named after a neighborhood of Comanesti, where its founder, Costel Dascalu, was born. It has up to 120 members, some who started participating at age 3.

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“My children, Amalia and David, are already in the pack,” said Dascalu, who was 8 years old when he first danced dressed as a bear when Romania was still a communist dictatorship. Back then, he recalled, it was a much more low-key spectacle, with the “bears” only visiting private homes around Christmas.

Locals say the custom dates to before Christianity, when it was believed that wild animals guarded people from misfortune and danger. Dancing bears, therefore, went to people’s homes and knocked on their doors for luck and a happy new year.

While having their portraits taken, members of the Sipoteni Bear Pack shared with the The Associated Press some of their reasons for making sure the ritual continues.

Preserving tradition was a recurring theme. But some pack members said they get an adrenaline rush from wearing an animal’s fur, dancing to tribal drum rhythms and socializing with other young people in real life instead of online. Many said they feel they are briefly embodying a bear’s spirit.

“I feel liberated, The bear frees our souls,” said one participant, Maria, who joined the Sipoteni Bear Pack as a 5-year-old and is now 22. “I also connect to my departed father who introduced me to the tradition 17 years ago.”

Residents are happy that the tradition lived on as the region lost much of its population starting in the 1990s, when many people left to look for jobs in Western Europe after the fall of communism.

A 35-year-old, Marian, returns every year from abroad to dance with the pack she has belonged to since age 6.

“I hope our children will make this unique custom last forever,” she said. “I can imagine quitting anything, but I’ll never quit doing this”