June 28, 2019

Summer finally has  arrived in Montreal, and with the summer came the most joyful festival of Tatar and Bashkir folk culture – Sabantuy: the center of Tatar culture Miras in Montreal, Canada, held it on June 22.

The Tatar and Bashkir communities of Toronto and Ottawa joined the already citywide holiday, which has been  held this year with the support of the Heritage of Quebec Society (Société du patrimoine d’expression du Québec), the City Hall of Montreal, the Consulate General of the Russian Federation, the Russian World Organization of Montreal and the Sambo School Montreal, whose leaders addressed the participants with welcoming words. Acting Consul General of the Russian Federation in Montreal, Sergey Viktorovich Kamzalov finished his welcoming speech with several phrases in Tatar, after which Honored Artist of the Republic of Tatarstan, singer Aigul Barieva read   out  a greeting from the President of the Republic of Tatarstan R. Minnekhanov, and the Kurultai  of Bashkirs of Canada, chaired by Farida and Ildar Sakhrkhanov, passed  the  holiday greeting words from  head of the Republic of Bashkortostan R. Habirov.

Natalya Shatilova, President of the Heritage Society of Quebec, head of the “Russkiye Uzory (Russian Patterns“ ensemble, conveyed the best wishes to the organizers and participants of the festival from the honorary president of the organization, Mr. Guy Landry; Alexander Gudimov, the representative of the Russian World of Montreal, wished people of all nationalities peace and prosperity, and  head of the Sambo-Montreal School, Igor Lokshin, called on everyone to be friends and play sports together.

The sunny scene pleased the audience with fireworks of national dances and songs. By tradition, the holiday was opened with the song “Tugan tel”, with which Aigul Barieva began her performance. The Kazan Nightingale graced the event with a program  many hours in the Tatar and Russian languages.

For the third year already, the Ministry of Culture of Tatarstan makes a gift to the participants of the Montreal Sabantuy, commending outstanding cultural figures on the main Tatar and Bashkir national holiday. The Miras Center and everyone who participates in its events are deeply grateful to the government of Tatarstan and its Ministry of Culture for the joy they have brought!

At Sabantuy, Montreal-2019,  in Angrignon Park   sparkled with colors Tatar,  Bashkir and Russian heritage for all residents of Montreal, and the crowded holiday meadow sang, danced and competed in the relay races. Presenters Danila Spasov and Svetlana Dogadkina celebrated with rhythm and ardor, moving from language to language, just like modern Canadian Montreal lives.

Mirasovtsers  offered the holiday two Tatar dances performed by Aziz Musayev, Svetlana Dogadkina, Adele Usmanova and Zili Mirgaliyeva. Erik Ellingsen and Adel Usmanov performed songs in Bashkir, Tatar and French as traditional duet. The younger group Miras, Danila and Alina Ksenz and Kamil Usmanova, joined by Aigul Barieva, performed two songs in Tatar.

“Russian Patterns” pleased the audience with dance numbers – performances by kids, older children and graceful girls with Russian folk dances.

The Kurultay Society of Bashkirs of Canada, who arrived on a holiday from Toronto, pleased the guests with an exhibition of works of needlewomen-embroiderers from Toronto Farhana Zinnatullina, as well as a perky Bashkir song.

But without any melodies performed in the traditional Bashkir kurai, not a single Miras festival is complete – the representative of the Bashkir diaspora from Ottawa Ruslan Suleiman performed two compositions for the audience, surprising the viewers with stories about the origin of the instrument and the musical pieces themselves.

As in the past year, the Sambo-Montreal School brilliantly held nationa  wrestling  kuresh competitions, traditional races in bags, jogging with yokes and spoons, as well as competitions for younger participants of the holiday – breaking up pots.

Miras is very grateful to the Russian World of Montreal for the invaluable help in decorating the festive scene and tents, as well as for the generous contribution to the holiday buffet – hundreds of pancakes that the guests of the holiday tasted. Razgulyaevo’s Montreal restaurant offered traditional Tatar pastries to the guests of the feast, and the buffet’s owner, Aida Dautova, did everything so that none of the guests would go hungry.

Ivan Nakaluzhny again became one of the official photographers of the holiday, who had already received a gift from Kazan for winning a prize in the contest of best photos from around the world “Sabantuy Misgellere-2018”.

The festival of folk culture ended with dances to the charming singing of Aigul Barieva, the guests dispersed with smiles on their faces and with the expectation of the next holiday, which was presented to the world by the Tatars and Bashkirs, but which so pleases all of us, no matter where we are. Tatar Sabantuy   has been  included this year in the general city holidays of Montreal.