Come celebrate Maslenitsa with us! This Russian sun festival, celebrating the imminent end of the winter and is equivalent to celebration of Mardi Gras. ALL YOU CAN EAT CREPES WITH GREAT VARIETY OF FILLINGS (smoked salmon and cream cheese, sauteed vegetables, chicken & onions, sauteed fruit, sweet cheese and raisins, and much more)
Live Music, Dancing around fire, All you can eat blintzes or crepes with numerous fillings. Russian Circus act performance (watch out for the geese ;)! RSVP 727-363-3832. $25
The tradition of Maslenitsa dates back to pagan times, when Russian folk would bid farewell to winter and welcome spring. As with many ancient holidays, Maslenitsa has a dual ancestry: pagan and Christian.On the pagan side, Maslenitsa was celebrated on the vernal equinox day. It marked the welcoming of spring, and was all about the enlivening of nature and bounty of sunny warmth.On the Christian side, Maslenitsa was the last week before the onset of Lent (fasting which precedes Easter), giving the last chance to bask in worldly delights.The name of the holiday, Maslenitsa (derived from maslo, which means butter or oil in Russian) owes its existence to the tradition of baking pancakes (or blini , in Russian). They are essential to the celebration of Maslenitsa. On the one hand, hot, round, and golden, pancakes, as people believed, embody a little of the sun’s grace and might, helping to warm up the frozen earth.