Eastern Slavs
Mostly Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, as well as Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian diaspora communities
Type
Ethnic
Significance
Seeing off winter, last week before Great Lent
Celebrations
Making blini (crepes), making visits, sleigh rides, dressing up, bonfires, snowball fights, the capture of the Snow Fortress, burning of the Maslenitsa Scarecrow
In Ukraine and Belarus: eating varenyky with cottage cheese
2023 date
20 February to 26 February
2024 date
11 March to 17 March
2025 date
24 February to 2 March
Frequency
Annual
Related to
Mardi Gras
Maslenitsa (Belarusian: Масленіца; Russian: Мaсленица; Rusyn: Пущаня; Ukrainian: Масляна or Масниця), also known as Butter Lady, Butter Week, Crepe week, or Cheesefare Week, is an Eastern Slavic religious and folk holiday which has retained a number of elements of Slavic mythology in its ritual. It is celebrated during the last week before Great Lent; that is, the eighth week before Eastern Orthodox Pascha.
The date of Maslenitsa changes every year, depending on the date of the celebration of Easter. It corresponds to the Western Christian Carnival, except that Orthodox Lent begins on a Monday instead of a Wednesday, and the Orthodox date of Easter can differ greatly from the Western Christian date.
The traditional attributes of the Maslenitsa celebration are the Maslenitsa effigy, sleigh rides, and festivities. Russians bake bliny and flatbread, while Belarusians and Ukrainians cook pierogi and syrniki.
Maslenitsa (Belarusian: Масленіца; Russian: Мaсленица; Rusyn: Пущаня; Ukrainian: Масляна or Масниця), also known as Butter Lady, Butter Week, Crepe week...
Belarusian commemorative coin with Maslenitsa theme and the accompanying blini Blini rolled up A pre-1917 Maslenitsa congratulation postcard Blini shop...
The Overture Maslenitsa, Op. 36, was composed by Airat Ichmouratov during the years of 2012 and 2013. It was commissioned and premiered in Chicoutimi,...
resurrection of nature) Maslenitsa (folklore character of the Eastern Slavs, the personification of the holiday of Maslenitsa) Mermaid Naiad Nix (or Nyx)...
popular non-public holidays. Old New Year is celebrated on 14 January. Maslenitsa is an ancient and popular East Slavic folk holiday. Cosmonautics Day on...
Christian festivals in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia also at this time of year (Maslenitsa). Shrove Tuesday is exactly 47 days before Easter Sunday, a moveable feast...
traditional Christian feast associated with the celebration of Carnival. Maslenitsa Shrove Tuesday Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Tsiknopempti Užgavėnės...
Goddess of Winter, Death, and Rebirth (also Marena, Morena, Morana, Mara, Maslenitsa). Morozko, from a Russian fairy tale, translated as Father Frost Old Man...
"Forgiveness Sunday", "Maslenitsa Sunday", or "Cheesefare Sunday". The latter name comes because this Sunday concludes Maslenitsa, the week in which butter...
foods and souvenirs, and show a variety of traditions, including Russian Maslenitsa, Tatar Sabantuy, or Siberian shamanist rituals. In 2013, Russia was visited...
Methodists, and other Protestants. In Slavic Eastern Orthodox nations, Maslenitsa is celebrated during the last week before Great Lent. In German-speaking...
Tatiana Day (Students Day) on January 25 Valentine's Day on February 14 Maslenitsa (a week before the Great Lent) Start date changes every year, depending...
These include the annual Feast of the Assumption in Little Italy, Russian Maslenitsa in Rockefeller Park, the Puerto Rican Parade and Cultural Festival in...
also often not thrown away, instead being ceremonially burned during Maslenitsa. The venik's cultural significance extends outside Russia: in Odessa Oblast...
of Vasiliev Vigil of the Epiphany Candlemas Festival of Veles Pre-Lent Maslenitsa (Cheesefare Week) Slavic carnival] Sfințișori (Forty Martyrs of Sebaste)...
March 2024, the authorities of several Russian cities decided to hold Maslenitsa festivities at the same time as the "Noon against Putin" protest. This...
custom of flying kites, as it symbolises "trying to reach the Divine". Maslenitsa Shrove Monday Shrove Tuesday Notably, the Orthodox Church of Finland uses...
Altai and the Municipal House of Culture. Regularly held national holiday Maslenitsa, Nowruz, Chaga – Bayram, received in February 2013 with the official status...
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