Museum of Folk Architecture is inviting to celebrate Maslenitsa. During the day folk groups from different regions of Ukraine will perform. Maslenitsa celebration will be held on March, 13 2016.
Guests will see fun folk competitions, can join ancient Ukrainian folk dances training and eat traditional dishes: dumplings with cottage cheese (vareniki), pancakes, pastries, etc…
At the end of the holiday at 16:00 visitors will see burning of the stuffed figure of shaggy grandfather, what represents the evil forces of winter. Celebration will end at 17.00.
Maslenitsa also known as Butter Week, Crepe week, or Cheesefare Week is an Eastern Slavic religious and folk holiday. It is celebrated during the last week before Great Lent—that is, the eighth week before Eastern Orthodox Easter.
The tradition of Maslenitsa dates back to pagan times, when Russian folk would bid farewell to winter and welcome spring. As with many ancient holidays, Maslenitsa has a dual ancestry: pagan and Christian. The name of the holiday, Maslenitsa (derived from maslo, which means butter in Russian) owes its existence to the tradition of baking pancakes. They are most characteristic food of Maslenitsa.
On the last day of Maslenitsa comes the most interesting event – saying goodbye to Maslenitsa – a solemn burning of the stuffed figure of winter.
