Pancake Festival
The holiday dates back to pagan times when folks would bade farewell to winter and welcome spring. Maslenitsa has both pagan and Christian ancestry.
Pagan's was celebrated on the vernal equinox day.
Christian's on the week preceding the Lent.
Maslenitsa, derived from the word maslo which means butter or oil in Russian owes its existence to the tradition of making pancakes, blini in Russian. The holiday therefore involves a great deal of pancakes.
There are different sorts. From plain to those with toppings or stuffed with, cottage cheese, sour cream, cheese, jam, condensed milk, meat, fish, vegetables, mushroom and caviar. My favorites ones are those which are stuffed with ground meat and the ones stuffed with boiled condensed milk. I love them and believe me I won't exchange them with caviar.
The holiday also involves a lot of fun. Lots of eating, drinking and festivity games for both adults and children.
Maslenitsa is however not only about merry-making. There is a schedule of activities celebrated during a week. Here's a quick peek on that:
Monday: Welcoming.
- ice-hills, seesaws and other mess for the games are created
- assembling the Maslenitsa doll out of straw and old woman's clothing
- (traditionally) the rich starts baking pancakes on this day while the poor, only on Thursday or Friday
(you can read about that here)
Tuesday: Day of Games
- sleighrides, home to home surprise of on-the-spot performances, etc.
- fun & mischief falls on this day
Wednesday: Regalling, the Sweet Tooth day
- feast on houses with blini and other dishes
- son-in-laws would visit to enjoy their mother-in-laws pancakes
Thursday: Revelry
- broad Maslenitsa begins, highlights & climax of the game
- (traditionally) fist-fights happen on this day- it said to commemmorate Russian military history
"Never hit a man when he is down" is a Russian proverb which roots from the holiday of Maslenitsa.
I asked my Russian friends if they still practise such "game" nowadays. They said no. Not all of them are happy about this specific "game" though they recognize its origins and the significance of it in their history.
I've first come along with this when I watched the film "Barber of Siberia". It was an old, good movie.
Friday: Mother-in-laws Eve
- a mother-in-law, with all her kind is invited to a son-in-laws home for a treat
I find this fun :) please read here if you want to know how is it all done
Saturday: Sister-in-laws Gathering
- young wives would invite suster-in-laws
Sunday: Forgiveness Day
The title itself is self-explanatory. This is one very interesting part of the festival. You can read details of it here.
The festival commences with the burning of Lady Maslenitsa (the doll).
It then the first day of Lent. Clean Monday, which ws considered the day of purification and fast forbidden foods.
If you want to read more details about the festival, please click the link below: Maslenitsa, Russia
(with pictures from the internet and source of information from russiapedia)
I'm linking this post to:
and WATW
That sounds fascinating! We have Pancake Tuesday here, but I've never heard of a whole week of festivities! Can it help spring come sooner?
ReplyDeleteHaha good question. If it does, I 'll make and eat lots of pancakes :)
DeleteI have heard of Pancake Tueday.. What a fun festival. the whole week sounds like a fun time with friends and family.. Thanks for sharing, Have a happy day!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a fun and busy week! The pancakes look and sound delicious. I think I'd like mine with jam. :)
ReplyDeleteLooks like you are having a great time!
ReplyDeleteHow interesting ! I love pancakes too, especially the once with salty tops ! We eat them here in Belgium too and it's one of the specialities in the Netherlands. Blinis we call very small pancakes, served as startes, with all kind of topping like cheese, ham, salmon etc.
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful that these week-long festivities happen in winter when everyone is dreaming of spring! It must make most people feel so much happier!
ReplyDeletequite the week of tradition! the in-laws part is interesting. now i'm craving pancakes...
ReplyDeleteI never knew anything about this. It's fascinating (and the pancakes sound good, too!). I love learning about new traditions -- this is just a wonderful one. What a break in the winter action!
ReplyDeleteOhhh Pancake Festival! That's my kind of festival :-) I love pancakes and usually eat only with butter. Pancake stuffed with boiled condensed milk sounds good, though! The in-laws events sound fun. These must be good opportunity to bond with families-in-law.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this festival. It was lots of fun reading about it!
Such interesting traditions, and so many! It would certainly be a busy week, but fun.
ReplyDeleteSo nice to know, Mari.
ReplyDeleteHappy Spring to you. Lovely pictures up there.
And -- I love the title of your blog. :)
Your Pancake Festival is rich in meaning, activities and significance - What a great time.
ReplyDeleteThere used to be pancake days when I was a child. I don't like pancakes but I liked the sausages and things that came with them. Your feast season sounds much like Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Except I think Mardi Gras has descended more into debauchery in present day.
ReplyDeleteHow interesting! Thanks for sharing all the info about one of the Russian holidays.
ReplyDeleteThey look wonderful. Thanks for sharing this tradition!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a great holiday. I also like the sound of Mens' Day from your previous post - even better than Father's Day!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the fascinating facts about Maslenitsa... so interesting! Thanks, too, for linking up with Communal Global.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE pancakes and a good festival!! This sounds so fun!!
ReplyDeleteHow interesting! It sounds like a great way to mingle as spring is around the corner.
ReplyDeleteThat's a lot of fun!! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteSounds fun!
ReplyDeleteHappy, colorful pictures of a lovely festival!
ReplyDeleteI'd be happy to celebrate any festival that requires pancake-eating! Fascinating to hear the history!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting traditions. Thanks for sharing. This year is the first time I learned about making and eating pancakes before Lent. I've never heard about it happening here in the U.S., at least not in California. maybe I was just not paying attention all these years. :-)
ReplyDeleteTake 25 to Hollister
A very interesting glimpse into a tradition and place that is foreign to me. Love that woman's pancake or bagel necklace and forgiveness day.
ReplyDeleteThis is fun! Enjoy the festivities :)
ReplyDelete