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In the former Soviet Union there are a number of diverse cultures, ethnicities & sub-cultures. All have their own festivals & events celebrated at different times of the year. In Summer there are a large number of festivals beginning with the great "Butter Festival" better known as Maslyanitsa. Different parts of Russia celebrate different things, at different times but some celebrations are universal to their countries. What I have attempted to do here is tell you about some of the more famous or more interesting festivals. Some are religious, some are political, some are about celebrating nature, some are about celebrating people & all area bout enjoyment & fun.
Russians love to eat so every festival has something to do with food. Some are food festivals celebrating specific foods or types of foods & all are good! Sit back now, read on & enjoy the celebration of life from the Russian point of view.
Moscow along with several other larger cities in Russia now host ice festivals. Mid-January is the usual time. For 1 week ice sculptors compete to make fantistic & huge sculptures of ice. Small sculptures are also made. People come out at night to see these works of frozen art. Many types of foods are avilable, concerts, dancing and much more are available to those who brave the cold to enjoy this funtime.
Maslyanitsa means "butter" in Russian & is a Russian traditional carnival & weeklong celebartion of foods particularly butter. It is celebrated in the Spring just before Lent. During this week-long festival people cook pancakes & bliny. These are served with honey, caviar, fresh cream, preserves, sour cream & many different foods, including butter, will be eaten before the time when Lent comes. Breads of all types are also made & served in great profusion. Pancake week is divided into 3 parts, the meeting of Maslyanitsa on Monday, the high point of the celebration, on Thursday & the last day, the Good-Bye Day, comes on Sunday morning. People wear funny masks & costumes. There is a festival with good food. In times gne by people used to burn a big man made of straw or a dummy much akin to a scarecrow as a way of saying goodbye to the winter. They sang songs & danced around the dummy & on the last day of the festival they would to burn it. The larger & hotter the bon-fire appeared, the longer & warmer the coming summer would supposed to be.
The copyright of the article Rus: Festivals, Feasts and Events in Russian Culture is owned by Dr. Donald R. Houston. Permission to republish Rus: Festivals, Feasts and Events in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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