Crimean Tatars: Hydyrlez National Holiday Celebrated, Despite Calls for Boycott
Photo Courtesy: Vestnik Kavkaza News
The annual spring festival of Hydyrlez, celebrating the arrival of summer and rise of fertility, took place this year on 3 May 2015, when thousands of Crimean Tatars gathered together at the cultural centre of Scheherazade in Bakhchisarai. Hosting various cultural and recreational activities, with the aim of further promoting the Tatar culture and creating common understanding between nations, the organization of the event had to face several setbacks and calls for boycott.
Below is an article by Vestnik Kavkaza News
The Crimean Tatars have celebrated the holiday of fertility Hydyrlez. Despite calls to boycott the festival, it gathered a record number of people on the specially equipped site in Bakhchisarai.
The Turkish national holiday of Hydyrlez is a symbol of summertime and hope for a good harvest. It was held at the cultural center of Scheherazade. On stage performers sang in the Crimean Tatar language and also national groups danced. A sports tournament of kuresh wrestling was held.
According to Kryminform, this holiday gathered over 40 thousand people.
For the first time in history, representatives of all nationalities of the peninsula and also the fraternal republics of the Russian Federation took part in the celebration.
In official holiday greetings on Hydyrlez, Sergey Aksenov, the head of the republic, said that friendship between different peoples can make the Crimea region happy.
