The Svistoplyaska of Vyatka: from a commemoration to an urban festival

Abstract

In the 19th and early 20th centuries an annual festival of Svistoplyaska was held in the town of Vyatka. The festival included a memorial church service for the fallen soldiers in the local chapel, a fair (where the traditional clay toys from Dymkovo were sold) and public festivities. According to the local legend, the warriors of Vyatka had once butchered those of Velikiy Ustyug, mistaking their allies for the adversary in the dark of the night, and the festival was created to commemorate the massacre. Researchers consider Svistoplyaska to be an archaic ritual festivity of the spring and summer calendar cycle. Hereby the discovered archival texts of the 1830s concerning Svistoplyaska are published, which allow to suggest that the festival was based on the idea of a commemorative urban ritual. These texts indicate that the authors considered the memorial church service for the fallen warriors to be the most important part of the festival. These earliest descriptions portray Svistoplyaska as a regular Orthodox festival involving a great number of citizens: it takes place during the Easter ritual cycle; it starts with a memorial service in the chapel; as most of church holidays, it is accompanied by a fair and various festivities (mostly childrens’ and youth practices). But the commemorative aspect is the most important.