Another celebration of Maslenitsa at "Desanka"

Maslenitsa is one of the happiest and most beloved holidays in our school. And this year, the celebration of Maslenitsa in our school was organized by students from older grades who study Russian and their Russian language teacher, Slobodanka Marković.

Russian language classes in all grades were dedicated to celebrating Maslenitsa, with student presentations and live footage from Russian channels (showing how this holiday is celebrated in Russia), as well as competitions in the schoolyard with fun and traditional folk games.

The program for younger students was prepared by their older peers. They introduced them to the tradition and customs of Maslenitsa week, discussing the importance of forgiveness, seeking forgiveness, and reconciliation. Everyone played and had fun through various activities: a quiz about the holiday, associations, competitions in fun games like pancake flipping, speed stacking/unstacking of matryoshka dolls, and more. Traditional folk games common to both Serbian and Russian people were also featured, such as sack racing, three-legged races, tug of war, rope jumping, and others. The students showed exceptional competitiveness and agility.

After all the activities, the school smelled of pancakes, symbolizing the sun. Students studying Russian prepared pancakes every day and shared them with other students and teachers in the school.

You can catch a glimpse of the atmosphere during the celebration on our TikTok profile.:

What is Maslenitsa?

Maslenitsa is a very old holiday, dating back to pagan times. It used to be common to all Slavic peoples, as well as many others... However, the celebration of Maslenitsa has only been preserved in the tradition of the Russian people (although in recent times it has been revived in many countries following the Russian celebration of this holiday)...

This fun holiday bids farewell to winter and welcomes spring. It is a holiday that prepares us for Lent - to enter it ready and clean, reconciled with everyone... It is important in violence prevention but also in representing the culture of the people whose language is taught in our school...

This holiday teaches us virtues such as:
• forgiveness (to those who have hurt/offended us in any way);
• seeking forgiveness (from those we have hurt or offended...);
• selflessness and sharing with others (we prepare pancakes for others, we share with others);
• tradition and socializing (programs for younger grades are prepared by older students - presentations and quizzes, they play fun and sports traditional folk games during which older students take care of younger ones);
• caring for others and competitive spirit, sense of unity (during programs and competitions older students organize);
• feelings of joy, fun, and relaxation.

The main message of Maslenitsa is: Seek forgiveness from those you have hurt and forgive all who have upset or offended you in the previous year.