Youth Festival of the National Cultures of the Mari-El Republic

Today I have participated on the Youth Festival of the National Cultures of the Mari-El. Being of course not a local citizen, but it was still a great event to be there and have the possibility to witness  the rich cultural life of the Republic.

By 13:00 everything was arranged, all the stands were ready. At the beginning people were walking around between the tables (there were 8 of them) tasting the food and chatting with the representatives, taking pictures. The Russian and the Mari stand was the biggest, but the Tatar’s were really impressive as well.

I shared my table with lady from Chuvashiya, so I had just a little place. Nevertheless, I still managed to show what I had – a few books with pictures, postcards, the presentation about Hungary and my main “weapon” – the food. My gulyás (Hungarian meat soup) proved to be a success, people liked it – even if it was more spicy than they are used to. It took just 10 minutes, and everything was eaten :))

After half an hour, ther official part of the festival have started. Each nation briefly introduced themselves and played a national game, together with the members of the audience. I was invited to the Tatar game, it was fun. It was really interesting to see all the different cultures, and they rich heritage. After the games, the festival continued in the theatre hall, with dances and songs.  The audience could witness many interesting

In conclusion, I’m a really happy that I have participated on this festival and got more acquainted with the cultural life of the Mari-El Republic.