I. Metshin about Maidan in Derbyshki: “Children and youth happily ride bicycles and skates there now”

(KZN.RU, June 17, Ksenia Shvetsova). On June 23, Kazan will celebrate the Tatar national holiday Sabantuy. At 9.30 am, the celebration will begin in Mirny and Derbyshki, at the Lebyazhie Lake, and will continue at the Kazan Hippodrome. Guests could attend contests, games, concerts, theatrical performances of famous artists. The headliner of the holiday in Mirny will be the “Turetsky Choir”. Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan, instructed everyone to thoroughly prepare for the celebration of Sabantuy at all city venues today at the Business Monday.

Azat Abzalov, the head of the Department of Culture, told how Sabantuy will be celebrated in Kazan. According to him, this year the Kazan towel will be the main symbol of Sabantuy, the image of which will be used in the city and stage festive decoration. Thus, a theatrical performance “Kazan Solgese” (Tzt. “Kazan towel”) will unfold for visitors on the central Maidan of the Berezovaya Roscha in Derbyshki. The festival will be opened with a colorful concert performance with the participation of 600 artists. Headliners of the holiday in Derbyshki will be Tatar pop stars, Salavat Fatkhutdinov, a People’s Artist of the RT, an Honored Artist of Russia, as well as Salavat Minnekhanov and Guzelem.

Sabantuy in Derbyshki will be held for the first time after a 5-year break. Residents of the city have repeatedly asked for this, noted Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan. “There were a lot of appeals in Derbyshki, but the site after the hurricane was badly launched”, he said. “This year we are seriously preparing it for the holiday. For the first time in 20 years, the capital construction of roads has been carried out. Children and young people happily ride bicycles and skateboards there. In a complex with the reconstruction of Komsomolskoe Lake, this recreational zone will reach a new level of improvement. It will become a comfortable, accessible favorite place for recreation of citizens”.

Visitors will be able to get acquainted with the works of applied and visual arts of both professional masters and beginner authors on themed areas of the “City of Masters”, added A. Abzalov. Anyone can take part in master classes in folk art.

The traditional place of celebration will be the Berezovaya Roscha in the village of Mirny. The best dance and vocal groups from all over the country will perform on the central Maidan in the dramatic prolog. The concert program includes the whole variety of Tatar pop stars, including Aidar Suleimanov and Danir Sabirov. The headliner of the holiday will be the “Turetsky Choir”, which has prepared a special concert program.

In addition to the concert program, the colorful farmsteads and sports in the forest of Lebyazhie Lake, a separate area dedicated to the WorldSkills Kazan 2019 will await guests. Young professionals will present various competencies and demonstrate their skills. “Self-employed Kazan citizens will present their activities and will be able to sell their products”, added A. Abzalov.

Folklore ensembles, creative bands and famous artists will perform on the main stage of Sabantuy at the Lebyazhie Lake. Zainab Farkhetdinova, Alsu Fazlieva and Azat Fazliev, Rayaz Fasikhov are among them.

Traditionally an important part of the holiday will be sports and folk games. Guests of Sabantuy at all sites will see competitions in koresh, in which the best batyrs of Kazan and the RT will take part. Winners in all weight categories will be awarded valuable prizes. Champion-batyrs of the tournament will be determined among the fighters and will receive the main prize: a ram and a car. Competitions, competitions in power extreme will be held on the Maidan in Mirny in addition to traditional ones.

Everyone will be able to test themselves in various national competitions, such as weights, climbing a pole, sawing a log, fighting pots, running with rockers, running with an egg in a spoon, searching for a coin in a bowl with a katyk, tug-of-war, and many others. And separate grounds with children's programs will be organized for the youngest visitors of the holiday.

Rural farmsteads presenting the culture and life of the Tatar people will be equipped at all sites, each one will present its colorful program to the guests. According to the head of the Department of Culture, they are organized by 19 municipal districts of the republic.

“Thanks to colleagues from rural areas who come to decorate our holiday with their farmsteads, this is a great work”, noted the Mayor of Kazan. “Our creative teams and children are preparing for the holiday. We hope that there will be good weather on that day, and for our part, we will do everything possible so that the holiday will be held at the highest level”.

Festive events in residential areas and in the forest-park zone start at 9.30 am and last approximately until 4 pm, until the champion-batyrs of the holiday are determined.

The celebration will continue at the Kazan Hippodrome, where a unique race of Akhal-Teke horses and a concert program will take place in honor of Sabantuy.

A big organizational work precedes the celebration, both administrations of city districts and city services take part in it, noted A. Abzalov. He added that this year unprecedented improvement work is being carried out at all the celebration sites.

“Summer cafes and retail outlets will operate at each site on Sabantuy. Everyone will be able to buy souvenirs, Tatar national culinary products, as well as handicrafts”, said the head of the Department of Culture.

All necessary services will be involved in carrying out the holiday: units of the Office of Internal Affairs and the Rosgvardiya, fire services and units of the Emergencies Ministry. In addition, duty ambulance crews will be organized on all sites of the holiday, medical facilities are located as well.

Public transport in Kazan will work according to a special scheme on Sabantuy, added A. Abzalov. 161 buses will be added on the routes to the festive sites, and the festive site in Derbyshki can be reached by a free shuttle.

“Sabantuy is always a responsible holiday for us, which requires a lot of preparatory work. We are preparing for this not for the first week, weekly headquarters are being held”, said I. Metshin. “Each unit knows its area of responsibility. I once again draw the attention of operational services: the organization and protection of public order at all 4 sites and in the whole city is one of the most important tasks. This is our favorite holiday, and we must organize it at a decent level”.