Maslenitsa Festival in Tsaritsyno

Feb. 20, 2020

Maslenitsa is a cheerful, nourishing celebration of the spring onset. Traditionally, there are going to be many interesting things at Maslenitsa festival in Tsaritsyno: contests for children and adults, guided tours for schoolchildren, dancing, a concert, round dance and a flower carnival in greenhouses.

Pancake week

Tsaritsyno will offer pancakes from February 24 to March 1: in the Mercato and Anderson cafes, as well as in the cafes of the Grand Palace (on the first and third floors), In street stalls—at the Second Cavalier Block and on the Tsaritsyno Dam — on weekends from February 29 to March 1.

Maslenitsa Festival at the Palace Square

On Sunday, March 1, from 12:00 to 16:00, near the Grand Palace, you can visit Maslenitsa Festival with folk games — boot throwing, bag battles, of course, tug of war.

On the ‘Spring vs. Winter Fight’ site, you may take part in bag battles on a log—a traditional winter fun, symbolizing the confrontation of the seasons. According to the organizers, the participants will be able to choose the time of year—winter or spring—and fight on its behalf. A scoreboard with the current score of the game will hang on the site. If spring scores more points at the end of Maslenitsa Festival, then winter is over; if winter, then there will be frosts again.

Boot throwing is a game of allegory. A boot should be thrown far away, as if throwing out the winter itself. In Tsaritsyno, a boot should be thrown in such a way that is hits the target in the image of the sun, the main symbol of spring. The event staff will build teams that will compete in strength and accuracy.

At the Maslenitsa Festival in Tsaritsyno, everyone will be able to weave braids (not from hair, but from tapes, and make it as quick as possible) and participate in tug of war.

At the same time, folklore music will be played at the stage at the Grand Palace, and a folk group Arkona will perform a solo concert at 15:00.

Pancake Week Fun. Interactive Program for Schoolchildren

Maslenitsa Festival is one of the oldest holidays in Russia, and we invite schoolchildren of 1–4 grades to see winter off with fun and celebrate the spring onset. Together with the villagers from the neighbouring villages of Khokhlovka and Orekhovka, the children will take part in public festivities and learn the old names and the meaning of each day of Maslenitsa. At the end of the program, each child will have a souvenir. The program takes place on the territory of the palace and park ensemble and in the Grand Palace.

‘Flower Carnival, or Maslenitsa in the Tropics’ Botanical Conversation

When Maslenitsa is celebrated in Russia, there is the famous carnival in Brazil. In fact, the reason for these two events is the same—the carnival, like Maslenitsa, is held forty days before Easter and on the eve of Great Lent. There are greenhouses with tropical plants in Tsaritsyno, so we managed to combine these two traditions. Especially for the Carnival Maslenitsa in the greenhouses, felt fancy dress costumes were prepared—hats in the form of flowering cacti, hibiscus brooches, skirts imitating the interlaced roots of monstera and much more. At the end of the lesson, a master class will be held on making a Maslenitsa dancing bast doll that can be taken home with you.

Welcome to Tsaritsyno!