Sabantuy is a Tatar, Idel-Uralic, Bashkir and Kazakh (“Sabantoy”), which dates back to the Volga Bulgarian era. At first, Sabantuy was a farmers' festival in rural areas, but it later became a national holiday and is now widely celebrated in cities.
Sabantuy, the Tatar and Kazakh summer festival
The festival does not have a fixed date. The festivities take place approximately from June 15 to July 1 and generally fall on a Sunday. Initially, Sabantuylar are arranged in villages, followed by Sabantuylar in rural districts, and the last ones take place in big cities. The last Sabantuy takes place in Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan. A similar calendar is applied for Akatuy in Chuvashia and Habantuy in Bashkortostan.
The main distinctive elements include traditional sports competitions such as köräş (Tatar wrestling), horse racing, sack racing, pillar climbing, egg-in-spoon-in-mouth race, battle of bags on the crossbar. , breaking pots, finding a coin in a qatıq (a drink made from curd) and other competitions. Such activities take place on the mäydan, which is usually located at the edge of a forest.
A tradition, called sörän, took place to collect fare for festival guests and prizes for competition winners. Qarğa botqası (Rook porridge), a ritual porridge, was cooked before Sabantuy to treat the village children. Another tradition was to pray at the cemetery.
In recent years, the festival is also often associated with folk and pop music festivals, as well as accordion music festivals, named Play, accordion! (Uyna, ğarmun!).
Kurash wrestling is the main competition during the festival. Wrestlers use towels and the goal is to knock down the opponent.
Usually young boys start the competition. At the end of the festival, the main event of the festival is the köräş finale. The winner becomes the batır, the hero of the festival. The price varies from a ram in small villages to a car during celebrations in big cities.
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