Perhaps the most cheerful holiday in Russia is the Pancake week in the end of february/begining of March (Shrovetide/Maslennitsa). This holiday is considered to come from pre-Christian times, when the Slavs were still pagans.
On the pagan side, Maslenitsa was celebrated on the vernal equinox day. It marked the welcoming of spring, and was all about the enlivening of nature and bounty of sunny warmth.
On the Christian side, Maslenitsa was the last week before the onset of Lent (fasting which precedes Easter), giving the last chance to bask in worldly delights.
With time the Russians longing for fun and entertainment turned the this holiday into jolly Maslenitsa with blini - round, yellow and hot as the sun, sledding and horse sleigh riding, fistfights and mother-in-law chatting. The rituals of Maslenitsa are very unusual and interesting because they combine the end of the winter holiday rituals and the opening of new spring festivals and ceremonies, which were to promote a rich harvest. Maslenitsa is celebrated during the week preceding the Lent. Every day of Maslenitsa was devoted to special rituals.
An old custom says it is necessary to please Maslenitsa, which means to celebrate it with great merriment. According to a popular saying, “There is no Maslenitsa without pancakes.” In the old days, among the most popular entertainments of the Pancake Week were tobogganing and skating, fisticuffs and snow-ball fights, storming a snow fortress, riding on the swings etc. Maslenitsa was mostly a young people’s holiday, and the holiday itself was associated with youth and cheerfulness, as it marked the beginning of spring.
If you have your business event in Saint-Petersburg in February or March - Corporate Maslenitsa is a perfect idea for corporate event or teambuilding entertainment in Russia! We can organize traditional and uniqie Festival for your guests, who will be impressed by hospitable russian culture and variety of entertainments! Usually corporate Maslenitsa includes:
- Pancakes workshop
- Traditional russian outdoor amusements and games
- Russian Folk Music
- Snow-ball fights
- Building and storming a snow fortress
- Russian dancing workshop
And many others
To give you some understanding of this great russian Festival, we recomend you to watch a small video part of great Russian movie "The Barber of Siberia".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBpl_jcUMwE
