Russian Tatars celebrate Sabantui

The national holiday of the Turkic ethnic groups in Russia will be celebrated today in Dimitrovgrad, a town in the Ulyanovsk Region in the east of the European part of the country. Sabantui means a "Plough Feast" and is celebrated after the sowing season before hay mowing, when peasants have a few days for rest.

The festivities are attended by delegations from nine regions of the Volga Area, which is populated predominantly by Tatars and ethnic communities close to them.

During the holiday 14 small centres will be used for demonstrating national cultures of those ethnic groups. Tatars, Chuvashes, Udmurts and Mordovians and members of other ethnic communities will sing and dance and demonstrate their national cuisine and garments. Games and entertainment like climbing up a high pole, national Keresh wrestling, and horse riding are traditional events at Sabantui festivities. There will also be a mini-Sabantui for children, a concert and honoring of winners in wrestling and other games.