Photos: An Ancient Ceremony to Celebrate the End of Winter

Alan Taylor
March 11, 2019
21 Photos
In Focus

Maslenitsa is an ancient ceremony—a farewell to winter celebrated since pagan times in the Slavic regions of Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, and other countries. Maslenitsa, or Pancake Week, is both a folk and religious holiday tied to Shrovetide, the carnival before Lent. Some traditional festivities include the burning of effigies of “Lady Maslenitsa,” family visits, snowball fights, and the cooking and eating of blini, pancakes, or crepes. Below, some images of Maslenitsa this year from Russia, Belarus, and Kyrgyzstan.

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A young woman poses for a photo in front of the burning Bastille fortress, a symbol of the 1789 French Revolution built of wood pallets, during the celebration of Maslenitsa, the eastern-Slavic Shrovetide, in the village of Nikola-Lenivets, Kaluga region, Russia, about 125 miles (200 kilometers) southwest of Moscow, on March 9, 2019. #

Mladen Antonov / AFP / Getty

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People watch a sculpture burn at the Maslenitsa festival at the Nikola-Lenivets art park in Russia on March 9, 2019. #

Dmitry Serebryakov / AP

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The burning Bastille fortress is reflected in the sunglasses of a woman during the celebration of Maslenitsa in Nikola-Lenivets, Russia, on March 9, 2019. #

Mladen Antonov / AFP / Getty

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People watch a burning tower made of wooden pallets during celebrations of Maslenitsa in the village of Nikola-Lenivets, Russia, on March 9, 2019. #

Maxim Shemetov / Reuters

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Participants dressed in fancy costumes take part in a performance as students and teachers from a local school celebrate Maslenitsa in central Moscow on March 7, 2019. #

Shamil Zhumatov / Reuters

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A student from the General Yermolov Cadet School performs with model swords during celebrations of Maslenitsa in Stavropol, Russia, on March 6, 2019. #

Eduard Korniyenko / Reuters

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People take part in a festive activity during celebrations of Maslenitsa outside Moscow on March 10, 2019. #

Tatyana Makeyeva / Reuters

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People take part in a mock storming of a snow fortress outside Moscow during Maslenitsa on March 10, 2019. #

Tatyana Makeyeva / Reuters

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A man climbs up a wooden pole to get a prize during Maslenitsa celebrations outside Moscow on March 10, 2019. #

Tatyana Makeyeva / AP

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Dressed-up revelers enjoy the Maslenitsa festival at Gorky Park in Moscow on March 10, 2019. #

Sefa Karacan / Anadolu Agency / Getty

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Performers dressed in traditional costumes attend the Maslenitsa festival in Gorky Park on March 10, 2019. #

Sefa Karacan / Anadolu Agency / Getty

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Artists prepare to perform during Maslenitsa holiday celebrations in front of the Historical Museum in Manezhnaya Square, Moscow, near the Kremlin Wall, on March 9, 2019. #

Alexander Zemlianichenko / AP

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Performers in scary masks entertain the public during the Maslenitsa festival in Manezhnaya Square on March 3, 2019. #

Sefa Karacan / Anadolu Agency / Getty

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People burn an effigy made of straw, wood, and cloth, representing Mother Winter, to mark the end of Maslenitsa in the village of Leninskoe, Kyrgyzstan, on March 10, 2019. #

Vyacheslav Oseledko / AFP / Getty

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Students from the General Yermolov Cadet School watch a burning effigy of "Lady Maslenitsa" in Stavropol on March 6, 2019. #

Eduard Korniyenko / Reuters

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Chefs prepare a three-meter pancake as part of Maslenitsa celebrations at the resort of Krasnaya Polyana outside Sochi, Russia, on March 9, 2019. #

Kazbek Basayev / Reuters

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A corgi looks on during Maslenitsa celebrations in Nikola-Lenivets on March 9, 2019. #

Maxim Shemetov / Reuters

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People take part in the celebration of Maslenitsa at the Belarusian State Museum of Folk Architecture and Rural Lifestyle in the village of Aziarco, Belarus, on March 2, 2019. #

Vasily Fedosenko / Reuters

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Students from the General Yermolov Cadet School take part in a pillow fight in Stavropol on March 6, 2019. #

Eduard Korniyenko / Reuters

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Assistants set fire to a sculpture of valenok, a felt boot and traditional Russian footwear, at the end of the Maslenitsa festival at Gorky Park on March 10, 2019. #

Alexander Zemlianichenko Jr. / AP

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People take part in the celebration of Maslenitsa, or Pancake Week, in the village of Aziarco, Belarus, on March 2, 2019. #

Vasily Fedosenko / Reuters

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