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A Jubilee Year, a Jubilee “Sholokhov Spring”

“Sholokhov Spring” of 2015, the Year of Literature in Russia and the jubilee year of the great Russian writer Mikhail Sholokhov, began on Friday, May, 22, at 11 a.m. simultaneously in Vyoshenskaya and in Rostov-on-Don.

“Sholokhov Centre”, a new Museum site, was opened in Rostov-on-Don. It will represent the Museum-Reserve in the main regional city and will become a venue for large exhibitions and other cultural and educational projects in the Southern Federal District.

The first important exhibition opened in its halls is “Traces of Cossack Old Times…” from the collection of the State Hermitage, one of the leading museums in the world. It displays the rarities of the Cossack history beginning from the times of Peter the Great including the objects unknown for the wide public. There is a plan of the following home and visiting exhibitions, which will change regularly.

On the same day, May, 22, in the centre of Vyoshenskaya, interactive venues of the student festival “A Word of Sholokhov.A View of the Young” began working. Amateur student actors drew the viewers in performing Cossack songs and dances, invited them for taking part in contests and sport competitions.

In the afternoon, “Children’s Sholokhov Spring” was in full swing in the central square of Stanitsa Karghinskaya. The public was greeted by the members of the official delegation – E.B.Milovzorova, Deputy Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation, A.A.Rezvanov, Minister of Culture of the Rostov Region, O.A.Pyatikov, Head of the Bokovsky District, and A.M.Sholokhov, Director of the Museum-Reserve of M.A.Sholokhov. The soloists, bands, children folk groups dedicated their performance to the 110^th anniversary of M.A.Sholokhov and the 70^th anniversary of the Great Victory.

Here, where the old streets remember the young years of the writer, games, competitions and entertainments were held for children. On the interactive venues the children competed in reciting the excerpts from Sholokhov’s works, played chess, learned to make paper field-caps, drew pictures and made original mats of grass.

A rarity car GAZ-M-20 “Pobeda” arrived under its own power to Karghinskaya from Vyoshenskaya, from the Museum garage. It reminded the veterans of the postwar years; the children saw this automobile for the first time. Then boys and girls had a pleasure ride on the ponies from the Museum Stables.

The events of “Sholokhov Spring-2015” continued at 6 p.m., at the Vyoshensky Palace of Culture with a journalistic and artistic recital “Behest to Generations”. The atmosphere of the recital was created by a theatrical composition on the works by Sholokhov brilliantly performed by the actors of the Rostov A.M.Gorky Theatre and the Regional House of Folk Art. The audience rose to greet the 93-year old veteran of the Great Patriotic War, a close friend of the writer, a guest from Kazakhstan, Bisen Zhumagaliyev. He visited Vyoshenskaya many times, and this time again his call for peace and friendship of peoples found a response in the hearts of the viewers.

The concert included a performance of Cossack groups from Rostov-on-Don, Stavropol, Volgograd, Chechnya, Kalmykia, Kazakhstan, Sebastopol and Donbass.

At night, at the Museum Stables there was shown a premiere of an unusual open air spectacle “Steed is the Dearest for Cossack”. The authors and directors Y.Tkachuk and D.Vorobyov presented an original narration about the fate of a Cossack and his faithful four-legged friend in the epoch of great changes early in the XX century. The spectacle was joined by the horsemen of Sholokhov Museum and the people’s folk group “Pravoslavny Don” from Stanitsa Bokovskaya. Unusual illumination and the mystery of the surrounding night of nature contributed to the atmosphere.

The Saturday morning reveille announced the beginning of the main day of the All-Russian literary and folklore holiday “Sholokhov Spring”. A column of folk groups led now by the drummers of the Shakhti Y.P.Baklanov Cossack Cadet Corps moved from the Palace of Culture towards the centre of the stanitsa. During the day the folk groups changing each other showed their art on the stages of Vyoshenskaya.

The central park alley was turned into a rich “Fair of the Don Masters”, where anyone could buy a souvenir to his taste. Here, in the square, one could buy books including popular works by M.A.Sholokhov.

In the afternoon, the district library gathered lovers of prose and poetry for the meeting of the literary club “Vyoshenskiye Vstrechi” (Meetings of Vyoshenskaya). They listened to the talk of V.S.Petrov, editor-in-chief of the journal “Don”, viewed a presentation of the journal, where many years ago Sholokhov’s writings were published, met with T.N.Bulatova, a writer from Uliyanovsk, and a science-fiction writer D.A.Yemets from the Crimea had a lively talk with young readers. There were many questions, many words of mutual support, general attention and understanding of the literary process of today.

The members of the author song group “Vyoshentsy” brilliantly performed in the “People’s House”. Not without reason that they called their performance “The Quiet Don is My Fate…”

The official delegation attended the exhibition “Catherine II.The Path to the Throne” from the collection of the State Historical Museum, which was laid out in the “People’s House” of Stanitsa Vyoshenskaya.

Meanwhile, the makeshift kurens (Cossack houses) located in the central square and  representing the Rostov Region districts hospitably welcomed guests and entertained them with songs and Don Cossack dishes. Here came the official delegation having put flowers to the tomb and the monument of the writer.

At night the public gathered on the bank of the Don near a big stage on the water. There was held a water festival joined by a party of the EMERCOM boats and a concert of groups and soloists.

The concert began with a greeting address of D.A.Medvedev, the Prime Minister of the RF Government, who sent a congratulatory telegram to the holiday makers of “Sholokhov Spring-2015”. Also, the greetings were sent from S.B.Ivanov, Head of the RF Presidential Administration, and V.V.Ustinov, Presidential Envoy in the Southern Federal District.

The holiday public was greeted by the Head of the Rostov Region Administration V.Y.Golubev. L.V.Tyagachov, Deputy Chairman of the International Affairs Committee of the Federation Council of the RF, read the greeting from V.I.Matviyenko, Chairman of the Federation Council, Z.M.Stepanova, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee for Culture, read the greeting from S.E.Naryshkin, Chairman of the State Duma, E.B.Milovzorova, Deputy Minister of Culture of RF, read the greeting from V.R.Medinsky, Minister of Culture of Russia.

A gala concert was full of performances of the folk Cossack song and dance groups, actors from regions and republics of Russia and near foreign countries. As always, the State Song and Dance Ensemble of Don Cossacks performed with a great success.

The concert was ended with a grand firework over the River Don. Following it, the admirers of the art of Anita Tsoy, the Honoured Actress of Russia, enjoyed her bright colourful show.

“Sholokhov Spring” has stepped across its 30^th anniversary!

Alexey Kochetov