Shrovetide: The Belarusian Carnival
Photo by www.sherengovskie.kiev.ua
Shrovetide ends on Sunday. On that day everyone will be able to ask other people to forgive them.
A special celebration program was made for the weekend in the “Mazuryna” amusement park, and it will be possible to visit the handicraft centre “Zadzvinne” on Sunday.
Huge sculptures (3-5 metres high!) are made by teams of workers from local enterprises. There are many more interesting events planned for Shrovetide in Vitsiebsk Region.
One of the most interesting events in Vitsiebsk is a contest of snow sculpture. It takes place in the village of Ruba, not far from Vitsiebsk, and attracts a lot of participants and spectators.
Celebrations will also take place in Hrodna Region district centers on March 4-5.
Nevertheless, Hrodna students are going to say goodbye to the last winter days on March 5. They are planning some games, skating, singing and dancing in a ring and an assault of a snow city.
Still, Shrovetide will not be officially celebrated in Hrodna. The City Executive Committee informed that Shrovetide was not on the list of the coming city holidays.
There will be a concert and the burning of the scarecrow. A ski-track will be made on Saturday. Local authorities and the region’s administration will take part in skiing”.
“The holiday will be celebrated on Sunday, February 18. There will be fairs in the parks where people will be able to taste pancakes, kebab and other delicacies.
Celebrations will take place in Baranavichy, too. Ales Litouchyk reports:
“Shrovetide will be celebrated in the local amusement park on February 18. The program includes a concert of folk music, theater performances, sports competitions and games for children. There will also be a contest of snow sculpture if the snow doesn’t melt”.
Other Belarusian cities also celebrate the holiday. Nasta Leskavets, our reporter in Pinsk, says:
What is Shrovetide like in Belarus nowadays? It will be celebrated in a traditional way in Minsk – district fairs and a great celebration at the State Museum of National Architecture on February 18. The program of the holiday is going to be very interesting and exciting.
That moment was a kind of psychotherapy. People thought that they could get rid of illnesses, hunger and various evil spirits by burning those things.
There is a great amount of rites connected with Shrovetide but the rite of burning the scarecrow is the most important and the most interesting one. People also throw all the unnecessary things into the bonfire.
The Slavonic Shrovetide is very often compared to the European Carnival. Actually, there is a connection between them – it can be traced in their names: the Italian “carnevale”, literally meaning “goodbye meat”, is similar to one of Shrovetide names (Shrovetide is a week before Lent when Orthodox Christians go without animal food).
ERB NOTE
Ancestors were remembered before every holiday. Ancestors and the memory about them have always been very important in Belarus”.
Moreover, Shrovetide coincided with March New Year’s Day. Thus, people could also say goodbye to the old year by celebrating Shrovetide.
The holiday was shortened by our patriarchy. The carnival, a holiday running parallel to Shrovetide, was also shortened to one week in Germany. In the old days it took the whole month to celebrate Shrovetide.
“Shrovetide is an old holiday. Unlike other holidays, this is a pagan one. The Church does not celebrate Shrovetide.
Unfortunately, meat dishes have already been forbidden, but it is still possible to enjoy milk, cheese, fish, caviar and other products not allowed to eat till Easter. An ethnographer Alena Downar-Zapolskaya is speaking about the holiday’s peculiarities:
