Today, 2 August, the courtyard of the Church of the Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God in Trnovo, a village below Pelister near Bitola, hosts the 55th World Macedonian Emigrant Gathering and the 46th Border Gathering of Macedonians from the Aegean part of Macedonia - held together as a single All-Macedonian Gathering.

The fifty-fifth. Which means this gathering has been running longer than plenty of today's states have existed under their current names. Macedonians are expected from every part of Macedonia, from the country and from all over the world.

The liturgy starts at 7:30 and is open to everyone. The official programme is at 10:30, followed by a public celebration. The gathering will be blessed by His Eminence Petar, Metropolitan of Prespa and Pelagonia. Mayor of Bitola Toni Konjanovski, as patron, will greet those present alongside representatives of the organisers.

The ceremonial address on behalf of the Macedonian Emigrants' Association will be given by Prof. Dr Vasil Tocinovski - writer, essayist, critic, literary historian and translator, the first and long-serving lecturer at the Macedonian language department in Rijeka. The cultural programme is carried by the folk ensembles Goce Delčev from Bitola and Novaci from Novaci.

The Municipality of Bitola arranged free bus transport - six buses from Kukurečani, Gorno Orizari, Bistrica, Bukovski Livadi, At Pazar, Karpoš, Crn Most and a dozen other pick-up points, returning at 13:00. It is a small thing worth noting: when an institution wants something to work, it knows exactly how to organise it. The question is why that same logistical competence shows up less often on days when there is no holiday.

Ilinden marks two events - the Kruševo Republic of 1903 and the ASNOM assembly of 1944. Both were attempts by people without a state to build themselves one. The gathering in Trnovo continues the same line: people scattered across the world who once a year return to the same place, the same courtyard, in front of the same church.

It is a fine holiday. But it is worth saying the thing rarely said from a podium on 2 August: everyone arriving at this gathering from abroad is someone who at some point left. Fifty-five gatherings means fifty-five years of departures. Does a state that knows so well how to welcome its people once a year also know what to offer them so they stay?