| Lovers of Irish holidays were allowed to go out strictly according to schedule The most favorite foreign holiday of those that have easily taken root in Russia in recent years for the capital's mayor's office seems to be St. Patrick's Day. In any case, Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov personally signed an order to hold a parade on the occasion of the day of remembrance of this Irish saint on New Arbat last Sunday and even agreed to close all adjacent streets to vehicle traffic for several hours. True, the mayor himself did not come to celebrate - and, perhaps, that’s why the capital’s police officers strictly ensured that the celebrations met exactly within the allotted time frame.
The Irish diaspora in our country numbers about three hundred people. However, the country's ambassador, James Sharkey, claims that there are a lot of people in Russia who are interested in Irish customs and culture. “Where we cannot overcome with numbers, we overcome with enthusiasm,” he explained. In fact, parades in honor of the “Baptist” of Ireland have been held in Moscow since 1992, but this year there seems to have been a lack of enthusiasm. Without Yuri Luzhkov, the Irish saint did not have many fans in Moscow - about 5 thousand people. Despite the abundance of parade participants dressed in green clothes, the overall tone of the celebration was grey, due to the abundance of people in police uniforms who strictly monitored the passage of the column along New Arbat and suppressed attempts to display unauthorized joy.
The parade in Moscow, officially called the Festival of Irish Culture, can be considered St. Patrick's Day with a lot of reservations. Indeed, according to tradition, it was opened by an orchestra of Celtic national musical instruments, and most of the parade participants had a mandatory attribute of this holiday - a shamrock flower, pinned to their lapel. (Remember that, according to legend, St. Patrick, who brought Christianity to Ireland, used a three-leaf clover to explain to people the concept of the Holy Trinity.) Other Irish traditions were not very respected in Moscow. For example, on this day you are supposed to drink at least one glass of alcohol, and in Ireland the famous ale is usually poured out to people walking right on the streets. However, the mayor's office, which allowed the celebration, decided not to adopt such a seditious tradition and, just in case, prohibited the sale of any alcoholic beverages, including beer, nearby.
The absence of strong drinks on Novy Arbat might have gone unnoticed if the entire organization of the holiday had not been lame. The promised “colorful car platforms” looked more like advertising vehicles for sponsors. Scenes from the life of the saint unfolded against the backdrop of billboards with the names of various companies. In the so-called culmination of the parade, the rock mystery “The Last Temptation of St. Patrick,” musicians and singers seemed to casually invite everyone present to one of the largest nightclubs in the city. And the famous Irish bagpipes, for which a separate truck was allocated, hummed so loudly that the windows in the adjacent buildings in New Arbat shook.
It should be noted that until a certain moment, passers-by crowded on the sidewalks were not even allowed into the parade procession. The Vremya Novostei newspaper correspondent, like other Muscovites trying to approach the column, was led by the hand to a “safe distance” by a vigilant police officer, who explained that “he was just doing his job.” Onlookers were able to join the Irish culture only after the cars carrying the musicians stopped on Znamenka Street. But the joy was short-lived. 20 minutes later, when the time allotted by the mayor's office for the celebration had expired, the walking fans of St. Patrick were very clearly reminded that they were away from Ireland. Two watering machines were released to the audience, excited by songs and dances. Anna ShPAK |
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