Sabantuy, a spring celebration of the end of field work of Visaginas Tatars
Sabantuy is an annual spring field work-end, coming harvest, fertility and wellness festival of Tatars. It has no specific calendar date, as following the tradition the aksakals (Tatar patrons) set the day and the place (maidan) of the festival.
It is thought that the festival is three thousand years old. In ancient times it used to mark the first sending of cattle to the grass, the start of preparing kumis (sabantuy, a sheep leather container for kumis, was strapped to a horse saddle). The festival of steppes Ciyin, where leaders of nomad tribes used to gather to discuss political and economic issues, the horse races, physical competitions, treats, and other entertainment were organised, was similarly called Sabantuy.
In Lithuania the revival of the festival grounded on Kazan traditions was initiated by Visaginas’ Tatars in 1996. Afterwards the festival spread to Trakai, Vilnius and Klaipėda. The Visaginas Tatars community strives to keep the tradition as authentic as possible, but it also actively communicates with ethnic communities in other Lithuanian towns.
The idea of Sabantuy is the gathering of community to share and transmit ancient traditions of Kazan Tatars to young generations by involving them into practicing and to spend time actively. The festival takes place outdoors and unites various forms of customs, music (playing traditional instruments as quray, mouth-harp, others), songs in national language, dances (“Tugan tel”, “Sabantuy”, “Epipe, Enise”, “Jomga”), traditional cuisine (tea, soup shorba, cake chak-chak). The main part of the festival is various competitions, sport games, demonstration of force and agility. Participants of the Visaginas festival bring presents to each other (the biggest present and the prize is a towel), declaim wishes, present their families, share life stories – all that enforces the relations of the community and bring new connections.
Submitters – Visaginas Culture Centre, Visaginas Tatars community, 2018
Custodian – Visaginas Tatars community