Festival of National Cultures Takes place in Tolyatti: “We Are the Multiethnic People of Russia”

On November 3rd there was a surprising celebration: the Festival of National Cultures “We are the Multiethnic People of Russia” in school № 4, where representatives of eighteen different ethnicities learn.

It was surprising because the hall where the event took place was full, people were sitting and standing; and people representing three generations of Tolyattins attended. Construction workers on two ports were represented, as well as employees of car factories, workers from “big chemical” and small businesses, students, entrepreneurs and pensioners - in a word all those who, on their weekend, on the threshold of the day of People’s Unity, expressed their family and personal opinion as both an individual and as a citizen regarding whether we need interethnic friendship and interfaith accord.

The holiday began with much excitement: children waited for the arrival of their parents, the assistant to the deputy met his boss, and hospitable hosts awaited guests. And there were so many guests, and so diverse they were! National-cultural associations of the city were in attendance: the Tolyattin division of the Great Don troops army, Tolyatti City Public Organization “Azerbaijani League”, Chuvash national-cultural association, ”Dnipro” Ukrainian local’s association, Tatar national-cultural association , Tolyatti City Public Organization “Mutual Development of Tajik Culture-Vatan”, the division of the Armenian Folklore Music School and the well-known matryoshka collector Galina Georgievna Yevmeshchenko; everyone did their best to make the festival date merry.

The stage was decorated with numerous flags of Russia, Samara oblast and Tolyatti, as well as republics of Russia, neighboring and distant countries.

Festival organizers, pedagogues, the organizational department of the town council and national-cultural centers all thought that it was not essential to carry out the festival, considering that our town had already suffered a lot of grief over the bus explosion. November 1st was declared a Day of mourning and loss, and November 2nd we accompanied our friends, companions and work colleagues…

This being said, the Festival’s occurrence scattered all doubts and empowered both participants and viewers. This day was converted into a celebration of friendship and unity and a memorable act dedicated to all Tolyattins who died in the explosion, those terribly taken away from us by misfortune on October 31st. The whole hall was united. The sincerity of the performances of patriotic and folk songs was received by viewers as a celebration of friendship over enmity, peace over aggression, life over death.

The festival began with a heartfelt introduction by Liudmila Skoptsova, the school’s director, who ended her words with a minute of silence in memory of those who had died. The salutatory words of N. P. Kutyreva, the head specialist of the organizational division of the city hall, and Y. V. Sharafan, a member of the school’s Guardian Council called for those gathered to offer assistance of every kind to the relatives and friends of those who had passed away and those wounded, to maintain peace and friendship, to be patriots of the great power of the Russian Federation and to pay due respects to the city of Tolyatti.

From the first performance, the hall filled with applause. Such ovations had maybe not even been heard since the incomparable opera star Dmitry Khvorostovsky. Pain and fear, desperation and doubt left the audience’s hearts, and were replaced with confidence in the future, and a feeling of unity and beauty came from the folk melodies and songs, as well as inviolable faith in a bright future and pride for our city.

It should be noted in summing up the Festival, that this is not the only, let alone the most remarkable event, as after the reconstruction of № 4 school, it took on the high status of the “School of People’s Friendship”. We expressed such a proposal during Festival preparations and it was fully supported by parents, students and teachers.

Parents, children, grandmothers and teachers, together with representatives of national-cultural associations of the city, sincerely proved to themselves and their friends that truly, we, the multiethnic people of the Russian Federation, are united by a common destiny.

On the holy day of the Kazan Icon of the Virgin Mary, and on the Day of Military Glory of Russia, Tolyattins once again demonstrated their humanitarian and moral character.

Source: Tolyatti Administration