Sunny, bright, merry and loud Maslenitsa celebrations were held in the Kirillo-Belozersky Museum-Reserve on March 2. All guests were welcomed with greetings and congratulations at the main entrance long before the beginning of the holiday.
As usual, outdoor festivities took place in the area of the New Town. Peoples’ attention was engrossed to the main stage of the museum where a Maslenitsa procession went through the crowd of guests. Students of the Vologda Regional Training School of Culture opened the festival. Then artists of Kirillov, Vologda and Cherepovets performed on the stage. Most of them are constant participants of local cultural programs. People know and like them. The concert began with the lively performance of the music ensemble of Elena Obukhova “Zabava (Amusement)”. Then soloist Andrey Kursakov (Cherepovets), the trio of button accordion players, Lyubov Zvereva, the ensembles “Rossiyanochka” and “Ryabinka” (all from Vologda) and local artists Varya Makina, Elena Antonova, Tatiana Yaroslavtseva presented their numbers. Some of them appeared on the scene several times.
Children and adults were pleased to take part in various games and contests organized not far from the stage. Kids had fun on large trampolines installed on the museum ground and had their pictures taken with the fairy characters - life-size puppets. People could buy delicious food and pancakes – the main symbol of the holiday. Besides, they could taste aromatic herbal tea made right on the fire.
Many guests joined in a charitable action “Kind Heart” and bought coupons, having become participants of the lottery. In all, they received 47 prizes. Some lucky beggars even won several prizes. Money collected in the course of the charitable action was given to the Complex Centre of Social Service to the Population in the Kirillov district.
One of the capstones of the holiday was a tug-of-war contest. The gigantic rope was 80 metres long. Some people “fought” on the side of winter and the others – on the side of spring. The spring team claimed a win in all three rounds. Then the contestants formed a single ring. An effigy of Lady Maslenitsa was brought into the middle of it. In accordance with the tradition of Kirillov, it was made of bright balloons. Instead of burning the effigy, it was let out into the sky. People followed it with their eyes and waved in farewell.
References:
Tatiana (Kirillov): “A wonderful holiday! An excellent opportunity to come to the museum with the family and to have a rest in the open air. The weather is good, and we are in good spirits!”
Nikolay (Cherepovets):”I have first come to the holiday in Kirillov and I even regretted that I didn’t come before. It is cheerful here. I have come with my friends. We had our pictures taken, ate pancakes, and participated in everything where it was possible!”
Elena (Kirillov): “I liked everything. The artists did a great job; all of them are so talented and beautiful!”
Natalya (Vologda): “We thought for a long time – to go or not to go to the Malenitsa celebrations in Kirillov. But we haven’t been there for a long time, that’s why we decided to come and to see. The weather didn’t disappoint us and the organizers of the holiday either. We had a good time, attended the holiday and visited the museum!”
