Maslenitsa In Ukraine
 One of the most famous Russian (and Ukrainian) Orthodox fasts, coming before Easter, is called the "Great Fast." Russian Orthodoxy respects the idea of balancing self-challenging and self-enjoyment, so the greatest fast of the Orthodox year is preceded with a wonderful week-long festival, called Maslenitsa.This year, Maslenitsa week started on February, 26, and will last till the "culmination" day , Sunday, March 5. If you happen to be in Russia this time of the year, it is worth taking part in the festivities somewhere in a small town, or in a village, where people still keep traditions of the old past. Given the Russian love of hard alcohol, you may expect something that would make Carnival seem tame. I want to assure you that you are going to be surprised at what you see. As the feast takes place in the end of winter and symbolizes the first signs of coming spring, Russians call it the first holiday of spring, and the main symbol of Maslenitsa – the Pancakes (Blini in Russian) are associated with the Sun, for they are warm, round, and golden. Blini are baked in every home, and then given out to friends and family all through the week. Traditionally, blini are topped with caviar, mushrooms, jam, sour cream, and of course, lots of butter.
 Russian blini are a very nutricious food. On the maslenitsa day, an open air competition of who can eat more of blinis than the others, is arranged. I once read a report about a Siberian man who ate more than a 100 of them, and died of over-eating!
There is a big variety of open-air games and traditions which are always observed on Maslenitsa. Group fist fights are undertaken in villages during the week of Maslenitsa. This may sound strange to Westerners, but it's all a part of the wonderful absurdity of the feast. Fist fighting commemorates Russian military history, when soldiers supposedly fought each other in hand-to-hand combat, but this fist fighting is just in good fun! Scrathes and bruises only add positive emotions to the participants. Quite often, fist gights are preceded with making of snow towers, throwing snowballs and imitation of attack of a snow fortress by a group of attackers, while the group of defenders fights back until the «enemies» are close enough to each other to start fist fighting.
Performing Bears is another old-style tradition. Bears are still frequent sights in Russian cities at holiday times. In the past, bears and their tamers would perform at Maslenitsa, and both would be served large quantities of vodka. This ended in a wrestling match between tamer and bear, with the bear often gaining the upper hand.
Bonfires. Bonfires will be lit and a straw personification of Maslenitsa is installed in the middle of a square, and is burnt during the festivities, as a farewell to winter. Sometimes a woman from the community will be chosen to dress as Maslenitsa. Tradition says that this woman should be cheerfully thrown in a snowbank in order to complete the welcome of spring.
Other Traditions, like Troika rides, sledging, theater-playing, puppets, singing, and dancing are all a part of the Maslenitsa celebrations. All in all, Maslenitsa is a good excuse to go out and have a good time.
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