Holidays in Russia
New Year
Public holidays: January 1--2 The major family holiday in Russia. See below about Christmas.
Christmas January,7
Christmas was banned as a holiday by the Soviet regime but was restored to its former status in 1991, and now it is a public holiday. In 1918, the old Julian calendar, which had been used in Russia for 930 years, was abandoned and replaced with the Gregorian calendar, which had already been used for a long time in many countries. The difference between the Julian and the Gregorian calendar is the length of the year. The Julian year is 365.25 days, whereas the Gregorian year is 365.2425 days. This means, for instance, that January 1 in the Julian year comes one day later every 128 years, according to the Gregorian calendar. The next time there will be any noticeable difference is in the year 2100, which will be a leap year in the Julian calendar but not in the Gregorian, so the Julian year 2100 will be one year longer. oThe difference between the Julian calendar and the Gregorian one was 13 days when the Soviet Union abandoned the Julian calendar. Remarkably enough, the Russian Orthodox Church is still using the Julian calendar, so Christmas Day is celebrated 13 days after the Catholic and Protestant Christmas Day, that is on January 7. oNaturally, not many of the Russians of today remember what it was like to celebrate Christmas in Russia before the revolution. New Year took the role of Christmas regarding the giving of presents, Grandfather Frost (the equivalent of Father Christmas and Santa Claus) the gathering of the family. However, it seems that Russia will take up some of the old traditions again, and in the future we may see more presents given at Christmas than at the New Year.
International Women's Day, March 8
On this day, women in Russia are showered with flowers, chocolates, and "aren't you lovely" from their menfolk to celebrate what became a national tradition - Women's Day.March 8 - part Valentine's Day, part Mother's Day, and all-women holiday in Russia.
In Russia, the holiday was first celebrated in 1913. As the main desire of women then was the right to a job. March 8 was a working day. But only by 1966, the novelty of work had apparently worn off for women, and March 8 became a non-working day.
This date is also commemorated at the United Nations and is designated in many countries as a national holiday. Women on all continents, often divided by national boundaries and by ethnic, cultural, economic and political differences, celebrate this holiday, which tradition represents at least nine decades of struggle for equality, justice, peace and development.
In Russia this holiday is unique, because it inspires the expectation of spring, new feelings, acquaintances, renewal. Like nature awakening after winter cold, at the very beginning of spring people look for joy, warmth, new emotions and romance. And the image of a woman is associated with it. Women are especially appealing on this day. Women get flowers and gifts from men of all ages: friends, colleagues, fathers and even sons and, of course, boyfriends!
Easter
Like in all Christian countries the Easter holiday is also celebrated in Russia. Special round-shaped sweet bread sprinkled with colourful sugar drops as a symbol of the Russian church dome (Easter cakes) is cooked . On Easter's Eve the Easter cakes are on sale in nearly all bakeries. Moreover, Paskha (rich mixture of sweetened curds, butter and raisins) is also prepared on Easter and eggs are painted in different bright colours. The red egg is considered a symbol of Easter. The Easter egg has many specific purposes, it is a traditional Easter present given to friends and relatives as Easter salutation. There is a proverb saying that once you wash your face in the water with the Easter egg in it, you will always be healthy and beautiful the fire will die, if the Easter egg is thrown into it, etc. On Easter people usually visit their relatives. The traditional greeting, if translated from Russian, says: "Christ is alive!", the answer is: "Christ is truly alive!"
Easter is at the end of the Lenten season, which covers a forty-six-day period that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends with Easter. The Lenten season itself comprises forty days, as the six Sundays in Lent are not actually a part of Lent. Sundays are considered a commemoration of Easter Sunday and have always been excluded from the Lenten fast. The Lenten season is a period of penitence in preparation for the highest festival of the church year, Easter. Holy week and the Lenten season end with Easter Sunday, the day of resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Recently a new tendency has been observed - young people get more interested in religious holidays, e.g. many of them stay awake all night long on the Easter's Eve visiting the Easter church service. The major divine services are broadcast all over the country.
May Holidays
Public holidays: May 1--2
Victory Day, May 9
Commemorates the victory over Nazi Germany in the Second World War.
The Russian National Day, June 12
The Day of the City (in Volgograd),September 14
Revolution Day, November 7
Used to commemorate the October revolution in 1917, but now this revolution is not celebrated any more. However, this holiday has been renamed as the commemoration of something else and is still celebrated. (I have forgotten the new name.)
