The project is based on the Bulgarian Festival of Masquerade Games – SURVA!, which takes place at the end of January every year in the city of Pernik. It is the largest cultural festival on the Balkans and between six and seven thousand people attend it each year.

The celebration revolves around an old pagan tradition when at the end of winter, in every village, masked men (Kukeri) perform fierce dances and acts with fire in order to chase the evil spirits  away and to bring great fortune into the new agricultural year.