Special project on wedding gastronomic traditions from Russia’s regions "Bread and Love" launched
Ahead of
the III All-Russian Wedding Festival "Russia. Uniting Hearts", the
National Centre RUSSIA and the "Svoe. Rodnoe" ("Our Own.
Native") marketplace for farm products have launched the special online
project "Bread and Love". It brings together stories of couples from
different regions who will gather in Moscow on 8 and 9 July to marry, celebrate
the beginning of family life together, share their joy with the entire country
and express their warm feelings.
The special
project "Bread and Love" is devoted to gastronomic traditions that
unite hearts. Its creators collected stories from participants in the III
All-Russian Wedding Festival about love, food and customs from different parts
of Russia.
A separate
page of the special project is devoted to wedding bread, as it is not merely a
treat but an ancient tradition passed down by Russians from generation to
generation. The future spouses recalled tasting karavai loaves at weddings in
the past and explained why they wanted to repeat this tradition at their own
celebrations. Daria Druzhinina from the Krasnodar Territory, the bride of
Kirill Skidan, shared a childhood memory of tasting a piece of karavai at a
wedding — soft and scented with happiness — and realising that it was a
blessing. Yevgeny Nikonov and Alexandra Bobyleva from the Arkhangelsk Region
said that they wanted to bring a tradition from previous generations to their
wedding by using a piece of karavai to determine who would be the head of the
family.
The couples
also explained that the secret of family happiness is often found in the
kitchen, while food becomes the principal witness to love. For example,
Alexander Kashirin and Ksenia Vyarya from the Republic of Karelia shared the
story of how they cooked elk soup when they first met. Alexander Telnov and
Taisia Godunova from the Bryansk Region recalled meeting through a poll in a
local chat about the best filling for pancakes.
On the
pages of the special project "Bread and Love", visitors can not only
read touching stories about couples in love but also receive a gift from
farmers in honour of the Day of Family, Love and Fidelity and register for the
educational day of the III All-Russian Wedding Festival "Russia. Uniting
Hearts". The cultural and educational programme will take place on 9 July.
Open dialogues, discussions and workshops devoted to weddings and family life
will appeal to those preparing to marry, those who have already started a
family and those still searching for their other half.
This year,
the wedding festival is becoming an international event: alongside couples from
across the country, international and foreign couples from Belarus, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan and Armenia will marry at the National Centre RUSSIA. The festival’s
geography is also expanding: in addition to the National Centre RUSSIA in
Moscow, festive wedding ceremonies will be held at its branches in the
Krasnoyarsk and Primorye Territories and the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area —
Yugra.
The main
event on the first day of the festival at the National Centre RUSSIA will be a
simultaneous wedding ceremony for more than 100 couples from across the
country. The celebration will also feature the passing of the flame from the
All-Russian family hearth "Heart of Russia". Newlyweds will receive
from couples who married at previous festivals a share of the flame brought
from Murom, where the holy patrons of marriage, Peter and Fevronia, lived.
On the
second day, 9 July, educational lectures, gastronomic and musical programmes,
and tours of the National Centre RUSSIA expositions "Journey Across
Russia" and "Geography Lessons" will be held in Moscow for the
newlyweds, their guests and everyone wishing to join the celebration. One of
the key events on the second day will be the parable performance
"Khorovod. Wedding", symbolising unity, strong bonds and a
willingness to extend a helping hand to others. The dance will bring all
participants in the event together.
The III
All-Russian Wedding Festival is organised by the National Centre RUSSIA jointly
with the Moscow Government and the Moscow Civil Registry Office.
Student life is a vibrant and romantic time for young people, and the love stories of Russian Student Teams members prove it.
On the Day of Family, Love and Fidelity, representatives of Russia’s indigenous minority peoples will marry at the National Centre RUSSIA.
