The whole area of the New Town of the Kirillo-Belozersky monastery became the venue for the event. Students of the Vologda Regional Training School of Culture under the direction of the teacher V.L. Nuzhina played a large part in the holding of “Wide Maslenitsa”: they opened and closed the holiday, invited visitors to take part in folk games and amusements.
A concert program on the main stage of the museum began after the welcoming speeches of the holiday organizers – Head of the Town A.E. Kotov and director of the museum M.N. Sharomazov. Local musicians Elena Vyazigina and Gennady Golubev, Elena Antonova, guest from Vologda Lyubov Zvereva and Cherepovets’ groups - the music ensemble of Elena Obukhova “Zabava (Amusement)”, the Song Theatre “Russian Button Accordion” under the direction of Pyotr and Irena Bartosh – performed on that day.
People who came to this holiday with the families took an active part in various contests and attended a master-class in pottery in the “Doll’s House” of Marina Vasilieva. Life-size puppets were a real decoration of the event – now many visitors have photos with them in their personal achieve.
Guests could taste hot pancakes – the main attribute of Maslenitsa or Pancake Week. They could also participate in a lottery, having bought the tickets. Its winners were awarded prizes on the stage. Money collected in the course of the lottery was allocated for the treatment of small Kirillov’s resident Alesya Bychkova. She will be operated in St. Petersburg.
The celebrations of Maslenitsa culminated in seeing off winter. Like last year, a straw effigy of Lady Maslenitsa wasn’t burnt. They made a symbolic effigy of balloons and let it out into the sky.
Along with the main program, a puppet play “Adventures of the Snowman” with participation of Vologda’s actors was held in the conference-hall of the museum especially for preschool children.
Besides, the exhibition entitled “Book Heritage” was opened in the House of the Father Superior on that day.