In the last week before the beginning of Lent in Russia, for a long time, they have been celebrating a cheerful holiday of seeing off winter and meeting spring. The people call it wide or rampant Shrovetide. Earlier in the days of Shrovetide, funny songs and laughter were heard everywhere, fairs were held in big cities and villages where you could buy all kinds of treats, teas, meals and compotes. Russia these days rang bells, the domes of churches shone in the sun, burned like heat, samovars, festivals, booths and grand tea parties were everywhere!
This fun holiday has come to us since pagan times. At the end of winter, they celebrated a holiday dedicated to the fertility gods Veles and the Sun-Yarila. It seemed to the Slavs that the Sun awakens the earth from hibernation, gives new life and hoped for a rich harvest in the new year. In this regard, almost all the rites of that time were associated with a circle - a symbol of the sun. In this festive week, we made circular bonfires, set fire to the wheels and, of course, the pancake was the main symbol of the holiday. After the adoption of Christianity, the holiday was called Cheese Week, later, in the XVI century, it received the current name familiar to everyone .
Over time, the holiday overgrown with new customs and rituals. So, every day of the Cheese Week got its name and the rules for its implementation. The first day of Shrovetide is called a meeting. Earlier in the morning, children made straw dolls early in the morning, dressed them in colorful clothes, put them on bast shoes and weaved braids. Then Maslen was put in a sled, and to loud songs and jokes they drove along the street. And with it, all kinds of treats were carried: for children bagels, pancakes, sweets and hot tea, for adults bread and pancakes with butter and cheese, wine and beer. The second day of Shrovetide is called "tricks." On this day, all honest people rushed to the ice slides, skating rinks and booths, where they sleighed on slides and sculpted snow women. On Wednesday mother-in-law invited sons-in-law to . Usually, on this day, the whole family, relatives and friends gathered for a festive dinner with pancakes and expensive treats. The most fun day of Shrovetide is Thursday "Wide Four". On this day, as a rule, no one worked, and everyone, old and young, indulged in all kinds of winter fun, starting from riding on sleepyheads and ending with fist fights. Remember the film "The Barber of Siberia", which shows Shrovetide of those times very well. On Friday, a crucial day came for the sons-in-law, who invited their beloved mother-in-law to their home. Moreover, it was necessary to invite the mother-in-law to visit on the eve of the evening and certainly in person, and on Friday morning in the morning, it was necessary to send special people to the mother-in-law's house who were popularly called "shouted". The holiday did not end on Saturday, when all the relatives gathered in the house of a young daughter-in-law (for the Zolovka gatherings "and she had already treated all her many relatives and friends. A variety of rich treats were put on the table that day, because you had to show your skill and please your relatives of the husband’s relatives. Then came Sunday “Shrovetide Shrovetide” or as it is also called Forgiveness Sunday. On this day, people ask each other for forgiveness for all free or involuntary offenses caused during the year, after which they certainly needed to be kissed and having bowed to one another, having been cleansed of all insults, the laity with an open heart approached Lent, which lasted forty days.