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Welcome to Merry Karghin Fair!

On October 8, 2017, the Museum-Reserve of M.A.Sholokhov invites all of you to the “Karghin Fair on Intercession Days”, a bright literary ethnographical holiday with noisy amusements, funny entertainments and broad trade.

The holiday is included into the National Event Calendar within the integrated strategy “Time to Rest in Russia” and is held jointly with the Bokovsky District Administration of the Rostov Region under the support of the Russian Federation Ministry of Culture. This year, an interesting and diverse program is prepared for the guests.

The Fair takes place in Stanitsa Karghinskaya at the “Farmstead of T.A.Karghin”, one of the Museum-Reserve structures, where you can see an old mill depicted in the novel “And Quiet Flows the Don” by M.A.Sholokhov, unique mill equipment of the early XX century, learn about the flour milling business development in the Upper Don area, visit the cinematograph “Ideal”, where the would-be writer acted in the theatrical club.

From early morning the Fair trade will start: modern peddlers will offer a variety of goods including handmade ones – souvenirs, decorations and toys. Blacksmiths, potters and wood carvers will share their professional secrets of arts and crafts traditional in the Don country.

Young guests will learn to play old games that were popular among Cossack children, will walk on stilts and have a ride on swings and carousels, horse and pony, and will go boating. The old Fair lottery “Happy Feather” will attract children and adults to win a prize pointed to by the goose feather.

The guests of the holiday will enjoy competitions of strongmen, singers, will have unusual family photos made for memory in the old photo studio interior and in Cossack clothes, will taste Cossack dishes.

For the first time the Fair will start a competition “A Pie of Wonder”, where any amateur baker can take part. The winner will be determined by popular vote on tasting the pies.

At the stage area the visitors will see an artistic ethnographical performance “Bread Heads Everything”. During the performance there will be a ceremony of transferring grain to the organizers of the All-Russian action “Bread of Peace” bringing together peoples of different parts of Russia and other countries. Grain

growers from different parts of Russia, France, Italy, Turkey, Ukraine, Israel, Georgia and Armenia have already given their grain for the Bread which is going to be baked in Volgograd hero city on November 4, the National Unity Day.

The concert program will be joined by the folk groups of the Rostov Region and a Cossack song group “Stanitsa” from Volgograd and its soloist Yury Shcherbakov, an accordion performer of folk Cossack romances, a member of the major festival of the Russian folk song “Accordion, Play Victory!”

During the theatrical auction “Horse-the-Fire” the holiday members will be able to buy a charming little horse with a long lush mane. The horse is clever, brave and cheerful, it is strong to be good for steeplechase and for carrying heavy loads.

The guests of the Fair will be shown a number of interesting and unusual exhibitions. The exhibition “A Wonderful World of Cinematography” displays the materials telling about the history of cinematograph “Ideal” and filming the works by M.A.Sholokhov.

As well as 100 years ago, the spectators will see fragments of silent cinema.

The exhibition “Bells of Russia” will show more than 500 exhibits differing in forms, sounding and purpose. Each bell is a visiting card of a region, which was visited by G.V.Shatalov, the owner of the unusual collection from Voronezh.

P.A.Soldatov, a lover of antiquity from Stanitsa Vyoshenskaya, will show his collection of more than 80 kerosene lamps of the XIX–XX centuries.

The interactive exhibition-tasting “The Upper Don History of Distillation late in the XIX–early in the XX centuries” takes place in the interiors of the “old saloon” and tells secrets of making grain wine and the Don alcohol drinks of sloe, pear and horseradish.

The holiday will end with a circus performance including horseracing, fancy-riding and horseback acrobatic elements.

You are welcome on October 8, 2017, to “Karghin Fair on Intercession Days!”

It is an open air holiday, from 9.00 to 13.00.

Olga Bakhtiyarova