"Hey people, vyasna la varot." The holiday "Gukanne vyasny" was held in the Grodno region

February 26, Grodno. In the agro-town of Zhytomlya in the Grodno region, the holiday "Gukanne vyasny" was held, BelTA has learned.

The event began with a ceremony with which the locals cajole the land and nature. Namely, they bring a full pot of porridge as a gift. The main feature of the holiday is spring songs. Each of their verses ends with an elongated "goo-oo-oo-oo."

By tradition, trees were decorated with colorful ribbons and paper figures. The feature of the local holiday is cookies in the form of larks. It is specially baked and at a certain moment, beckoning birds from distant lands to return, they throw it up on their hands and towels.

Not without pancakes at the holiday, heralding spring. This time in Zhytoml they were baked on a block. "For these purposes, it is better to take pine. This tree is drier. A round hole is cut in the center and at the bottom, they must be connected in the middle. Nails are driven in from above, on which a frying pan or cast iron will be placed. Some cut the tree and tie it with wire. But we do it our own way ", - says Peter, who made a block, with the help of which each guest of the holiday could treat himself to pancakes piping hot.

And Nadezhda Shumel prepares them. The woman shares that the most important thing in cooking is a good mood. "Each hostess has her own secrets. But the main thing is to bake pancakes in a good mood and with wishes of health and goodness to those who will eat them," says Nadezhda. The woman adds that the conditions in which our ancestors used to cook are now considered Spartan. But this only adds to the enthusiasm and enthusiasm.

Nearby is Anna Dulko. The woman modestly says that the pancakes with which she treats the guests of the holiday today are prepared according to her grandmother's recipe. "The recipe is simple. Flour, milk , eggs. But the main thing is to put your soul into your dish. Previously, we cooked pancakes on Sunday, when the whole family gathered at home," says Anna. And in addition to pancakes - tea tasting on local herbs.

Entertainment is prepared for adults and children. So, for kids, they also organized a master class on making the sun, which will surely fulfill a wish. “I wished that I was healthy. It’s very easy to make crafts. In general, I really love spring, because birds fly and sing, and flowers still bloom. Most of all I love daisies,” shared first grader Sofya Melnikova.

"It took a lot of time to find information about how the rite "Gukanne vyasny" took place in our Grodno land. There were many seminars in different areas. So, bit by bit in different sources, I was looking for information about our traditions, so we were able to revive our traditional rite," Tereza Adamovich, head of the folk song theater "Matulina Song" and the children's exemplary folklore group "Vasilechki", said.

The holiday traditionally ended with the burning of an effigy of winter.

Photo by Leonid Shcheglov