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This week Russia is celebrating Maslenitsa. This holiday is similar to Carnival, Mardi Gras and Fat Tuesday in the way that they all are the late-winter festivals of eating, drinking and merrymaking.
As with many holidays, Maslenitsa has a dual ancestry: pagan and Christian. On the pagan side, Maslenitsa is a sun-festival. Spring is coming, the sun is shining longer, it is getting warmer each day, and winter is clearly on its way out. What a good cause for celebration!
On the Christian side, Maslenitsa marks the last week before the onset of Lent, which is a period of a very strict fasting before Easter. During the Maslenitsa week, Orthodox Christians already start abstaining from meat.
Maslenitsa can also be called the Pancake week, as its essential element is making and eating of pancakes, which are as round and golden as the sun. Besides that, Maslenitsa might include masquerades, snowball fights, sledding, swinging on swings, plenty of sleigh rides and certainly singing songs and dancing. In some regions of Russia, the final glorious moment of Maslenitsa celebration is burning of a scarecrow that represents winter. This is the way Russian people say good-bye to winter and welcome spring. Hooray! Spring is coming!
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