Ax - a tool of labor is very ancient. At the dawn of mankind, they were stone. When analogues like modern ones appeared, hardly anyone knows for sure. But with the fact that the ax in Russia was almost the most popular tool, everyone will agree. The people made a lot of sayings about him, for example, such as: “If you don’t take an ax, you won’t cut a hut”, or such: “I said that I chopped it off with an ax”. From it even porridge was cooked in a fairy tale. So it is not surprising that a new festival was born, called the "Ax Holiday". It was first held in 2008 and in 7 years has become extremely popular. It could not be otherwise, because this is a national holiday.
Place and time
Every corner of Russia is famous for its craftsmen. In the Tomsk region, they say, unusually talented carpenters and joiners lived. To make their work resurrected, the festival “Celebration of the Ax” was conceived. It was first held from August 8 to 10, in the year 2008, in the village of Zorkaltsevo, on the Poros River, 20 km from Tomsk. In subsequent years, the date shifted. So, in the 2014th year, the festival was held from August 21 to 24. For participation in it were declared not only Russian craftsmen, but also carpenters of England, Norway, Finland. However, a festival takes place abroad around these days, so the craftsmen could not come. In the future it is planned to hold the "Ax Holiday" in the first half of August. Venues for the contestants are located in the Okolitsa park. Here, 17 hectares have been allocated for this. Participants live in tents on the banks of Poros, next to the observation tower, built by former contestants. There is also a field kitchen.
Contests
The festival program has 3 main competitions:
1. Competition teams. They need to build a toy house out of logs.
2. Competition of individual creativity. Here the craftsmen will compete who will build the most beautiful bench.
3. Fantasy competition. Then the craftsmen will have to make a wooden sculpture.
Winners will receive awards - carpentry tools, a crystal ax, diplomas.
In addition, at the festival "Celebration of the ax" there are many other fun contests, such as:
- who more accurately throws an ax at the target;
- who sharpen the stake sharper;
- who is the best chopping wood;
- who more precisely chop the bar exactly 56 mm.
Entertainment for guests
Tomsk is famous for its rich history. “Ax Holiday” offers its guests an interesting excursion program around the city and its environs, because even Zorkaltsevo is curious that Hannibal himself, who later became Pushkin’s grandfather, once stayed here. Also at the festival there is a fair of souvenirs, amulets, wonderful handicrafts, folk art groups sing and dance, vying for varenyky, shanezhki, barbecue and many other dishes of Russian cuisine directly from the fire. There is a wonderful playground for children, their own children's competitions are held . For connoisseurs of art organized an exhibition of paintings, performances of poets. The contest "The first guy in the village" is very fun, there is even a fashion show. And lovers of water treatments are waiting for the local pond.
Dreams and plans
The festival "Ax Holiday" was organized in order to captivate young people with carpentry, so that the work of former craftsmen was not forgotten. Similar holidays were held in other regions of Russia, but only in Tomsk did it become international. Brigades from Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Khakassia, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Finland, England already want to participate in the festival. More than 50 thousand people came to the “Ax Holiday” in 2014. More guests are expected in the coming years. For them, it was decided to build a hotel, which will be made only of wood. A small zoo with ducks, hens, and pigs has already been equipped for the kids. There are even ponies that you can ride. And a milkmaid milks a cow right in front of the audience, so you can taste fresh milk.
The works of craftsmen after the competition go to kindergartens or parks, and the best take their place in the museum. Come and you on the "Ax Holiday". Do not hesitate, you will be welcomed there.