This year Maslenitsa will take place in a new location – the Pskov Museum quarters, from the 3rd until the 5th of March. The main event of the Maslenitsa will be the convention of folklore groups and cultural clubs from different parts of the country, who will introduce other Maslenitsa attendees to Maslenitsa traditions and customs.

Each individual day of the Maslenitsa celebration will have a specific name. March 3rd will be “Shirokii Chetverg”, the 4th will be “Teshin Vecherok”, the 5th will be “Hlebosolnaya Maslenitsa”. The center of Pskov will basically turn into a “Maslenitsa city” during the holiday. Citizens and guests of Pskov will be able to attend 4 separate entertainment areas: “Kukolnaya Palata”, “Molodetskyi Krug”, “Solntsevorot”, and “Terem Skazok”.

During the celebration the streets in the Museum quarters will obtain different names: “Maslenichnyi Prospekt, Blinnaya Ploshad, Ozornaya and Udalaya Street, Ledyanoi and Lubyanoi Pereulok”.

Even the usual transportation methods will change during the celebration – instead of buses, the streets of “Maslenitsa city” will include dog sleds. The highlight of the event is promised to be a winter garden filled with ice sculptures, located in the Botanic Garden of Pskov.

In addition to the extensive entertainment program, the Maslenitsa celebration will have a pancake and craft faire, along with a photography contest, an exhibition of folk art, an art exhibit and charity concerts.

Traditional craftsmen from all parts of Russia will take part in the celebration. Their main task will be conducting master classes in the traditional methods of craft making that are centuries old. The culmination of the celebration will be the burning of the Maslenitsa scarecrow, which will be placed on the ice of the Velikaya River.

We would like to note that in the year 2010 the Maslenitsa celebration in Pskov was a notable tourist attraction in what is considered the “low” tourist season – more than 10 thousand people were in attendance.

Source: tourbus.ru