Mardi Gras, Carnival, Carnival, Karneval. . . that’s Maslenitsa by any other name. And if you haven’t heard of it, no one would blame you, it wasn’t widely celebrated for 85 years in Russia. However, Maslenitsa is back in full force. Since 2002 it has been officially organized in the city and is again becoming a mainstay of the Moscow holiday calendar.
Maslenitsa week began as a pagan ritual and has since been absorbed into Eastern Orthodox religion. As it is, Maslenitsa serves many purposes. Maslenitsa signals the departure of winter and announces the arrival of spring. As part of the celebrations leading up to Lent, it is also a preventive strike for the upcoming fast. Because meat and dairy would traditionally be forbidden, Maslenitsa is the time to party (especially on pancakes). The name of the festival has its roots in the Russian word for butter, “maslo.”
Maslenitsa’s pancake
Blini are Russian pancakes, and they are essential for Maslenitsa celebration. Said to symbolize the sun, warm, round and golden, they are an appropriate warning for persistent cold weather. The blini are given out to friends and family throughout the week and topped with caviar, mushrooms, jam, sour cream, and of course lots of butter.
Fist fight
Group fights are held during Maslenitsa week. This may sound strange to Westerners, but it’s all part of Maslenitsa’s interesting absurdity. The fist fight commemorates Russian military history, when soldiers supposedly fought each other in hand-to-hand combat, but this fist fight is so much fun!
Realizing Bears
Bears are still a frequent sight in Moscow, unfortunately for bears. In the past, bears and their tamers performed in Maslenitsa, and both received large quantities of vodka. This ended in a wrestling match between the tamer and the bear, with the bear often winning the game.
Bonfires and Maslenitsa personified
Bonfires will be lit and a personification of Maslenitsa can be burned during the festivities to bid farewell to winter. Sometimes a woman from the community will be chosen to dress as Maslenitsa. Tradition says that this woman must be happily thrown into a snow bank to complete the welcome of spring.
Other traditions
Troika rides, sledding, theater, puppets, singing and fireworks are part of the Maslenitsa celebrations. There is usually a “storm” from a heavy snowfall. That these traditions are still alive today is a testament to the long memory and preservation of their heritage by the Russians.
All in all, Maslenitsa is a good excuse to go out and have a good time, eat your fill, and do something you wouldn’t do at any other time of the year.
Maslenitsa celebrations
Maslenitsa is held every year in Moscow on Vasilyevski Spusk. The Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg also has a billboard in honor of Maslenitsa.
If you want to see how Maslenitsa was celebrated at the beginning of the century, be sure to watch the movie “The Siberian Barber” ( Sibirskiy Tsirlyunik ). The plot takes a wonderful turn during a raucous Maslenitsa celebration in Moscow.
