Русский English Deutsch Le français Español Lingua italiana Suomi Svenska 中
search
Main page / What's On / The Festivals of the Saviour
The Festivals of the Saviour
Date:
дата не определена

Time:
1 p.m. - 3 p.m.

Venue:
August 18, 2019 - House-museum of N. Nekrasov (Chudovo)

August 25, 2019 - Vitoslavlitsy Open-air Museum of Wooden Architecture

Contacts:
+7 (816 2) 77 37 38

Price:
250 RUB (adult) 200 RUB (students, pensioners) 500 RUB (family ticket)

GPS:
58.49159600, 31.27186100

On August 23, 2020 Novgorod State United Museum invites you on gathering holiday "The Festivals of the Saviour", which is held on the base of three holidays: The First Festival of the Saviour (Honey, Wet, on the 14th of August), The Second Festival of the Saviour (Apple, Middle, "The Saviour on the Hill", on the 19th of August), The Third Festival of the Saviour (Linen, Walnut, Barley, Bread, on the 29th of August). Before the celebration at 13:00 in the Church of the Saint Apostles Peter and Paul from the village Malyvisherskiy region wil be held a prayer service.

The Festivals of the Saviour is linked with the completion of the harvest, preserving vitality, accumulating the knowledge. The "red" bell-sounds of the bellfry from the village Vysoky Ostrov will inform us about the beginning of the festival. There will be a concert of religious music in the Church of St. Nicholas from Vysokoostrovskiy churchyard. The guests of the festival will see the reaping ceremonies on the field. One will become stronger if he or she rolls on their back on a windrow. Moreover, the guests can sing and dance in a ring with folk music groups, tell fortunes by apples and peas. Everyone will enjoy amusements and folk games. At will the guests can be wetted with special healthy water and strewed with peas. In Vitoslavlitsy guests are offered to try some handcrafts connected with linen making or cooking the novgorodian “thicket”, which they will be able to taste. For children different master-classes, such as making «taps» from linen and “apples” from wool, are organized. "The Savior has a lot in storage!" – on the bazar you can buy linen and woolen products, presents (honey, apples) for your friends and relatives.

The First Festival of the Saviour is called The Savior of the Honey Feast Day because it was the first day when people started to take out honeycombs. The best honey they brought to the church. People made honey kvass and treated each other. They also called this festival Wet. By sacred procession people went to rivers and other water resources to attend at the blessing of the water. The water was blessed with honey, then adults swam and bathed the children, putting on them new shits. On the same day the water in wells was also blessed. People drank the water, after having put silver in it, and gave it to the horses.

The Savior of the Apple Feast Day (the Second Festival of the Saviour) is one of the Great Twelve Feasts in Orthodox Church - the Transfiguration of the Savior. This festival was established in honor of wonderful Transfiguration of Jesus Christ on the hill Favor during the prayer in the presence of his disciples. Popularly this day was named "apple", because the apples and other vegetables (peas, potatoes, cucumbers, turnips, swedes) ripen by this day. People carried their products to the church to have them blessed. After the blessing people collected apples in gardens. During the breakfast young women made a wish and it came true when they swallowed a first piece of a "Saviour" apple. The girls were thinking about their fiancés and saying: «What I wish – I think! What I think – it will happen! What happens – will never pass!». On the 19th of August some people made "The pea day" festival. They put on festival dresses, went to the pea field and treated each other with peas.

From the day of the Feast the middle sowing of winter rye (the best time) began. There was a ritual of sowing the fields: the priest with icons came on the field, sprinkled the field and the seeds with holy water. One of "the most honorable owners" was the first one to sow the blessed fields. From that day the harvest began accompanied by a lot of rituals. The women of Novgorod cooked pies and treated the neighbors with the words: "Treat, eat and pray for my cattle".

The Third Festival of the Saviour (Linen, Cloth, Barley, Bread, Walnut) is celebrated by the Orthodox Church to the memory of moving the icon "Not-Made-By-Hands Image of our Lord Jesus Christ" from Mesopotamia town Edessa to Constantinople. Russian people thought that this day was good for trading linen and cotton. A lot of people went to the fair on that day. This Festival was called Walnut or Bread, because from this day it was allowed to collect nuts in the forest and make pies out of the flour of a new harvest. There also was a ritual: the women were "rolling" on the field and saying: «Corn field, Corn field, return me my strength, for the pestle, for the knock, for the flapper, for the crooked spindle!».

The video from the festival 2013

↑ Up