Educational effect

The regional authorities summed up the first results of the All-Russian Maslenitsa

On February 15, 2010, a press conference dedicated to the results of the All-Russian Maslenitsa was held at the press service of the Pskov Region Administration. The event, which attracted close attention from the moment when the desire of the regional authorities to spend 15 million budget rubles on the “region-forming” holiday [ 1 ], caused a lot of critical assessments [ 2 ]. Nevertheless, regional officials were quite pleased with what they saw and tried to share their optimism about the prospects for the Pskov Maslenitsa with journalists.

The beginning of the press conference was delayed - as Oksana Shiran, head of the information policy department of the Pskov region administration, explained, Igor Gavryushkin, adviser to the governor and director of the Tsarskoye Selo Carnival Foundation, was on his way to Pskov and was late. In the end, after waiting a little more, we started without him.

However, Mr. Gavryushkin did not appear during the press conference either. So Victoria Khrushcheva, who was recommended as the "project coordinator", had to represent the interests of the Tsarskoye Selo Carnival. Ms. Khrushcheva, however, refused to take a seat on the presidium, and her interactions with journalists ended up being reduced to a minimum.

As a result, Zinaida Ivanova, chairman of the culture committee, and Dmitry Ravikovich, head of the economic development committee, took the blow: the organizers of the press conference emphasized in every possible way that the All-Russian Maslenitsa was not only a “cultural” project, but also an “economic” one.

Ms. Ivanova immediately warned journalists: “We are not summing up the results yet!”, explaining that “such a great event deserves a comprehensive reflection,” and this, of course, takes time.

Zinaida Nikolaevna also recalled that the All-Russian Maslenitsa "in its scale significantly exceeds everything that was planned in the field of festive culture in the Pskov region earlier." And she added that "for the entire culture of the Pskov region, participation in this project turned out to be a serious test for creative viability and the ability to organize all services to solve one problem."

Anticipating, nevertheless, issues related to the overlays in the organization of Maslenitsa, the chairman of the committee on culture hastened to emphasize that “it is definitely impossible to think over, calculate, foresee everything from the first time. Everyone who has ever been in the role of an organizer, director, actor, manager, participant in a game program will probably agree with this, ”she turned to reporters.

At the same time, Zinaida Ivanova expressed the hope that among the Pskovites there will be “people who are not indifferent to the fate of the city” and who understand “the need to clearly position Pskov not as a province, but as a historical place worthy of being in the center of attention of all of Russia.”

“We are waiting for constructive proposals on how, having received a bright idea, to implement it in the future. So that the task set by Andrey Anatolievich Turchak - so that in three years this project will reach self-sufficiency - we have completed together with you, ”Ms. Ivanova dotted the i's.

Dmitry Ravikovich, who took over from his colleague, said that he personally liked the holiday. Recalling that the main problem of the local tourism product is its “seasonality”, Mr. Ravikovic added that the most effective solution is “event promotion of low seasons”.

In the case of Maslenitsa, “the idea worked,” the chairman of the committee expressed his opinion, illustrating these words with data from a study by the Institute for Regional Development, according to which “55-60 thousand people” visited the Pskov holiday, including “7-8 thousand tourists” who left in the city's economy "12-17 million rubles" and provided "unprecedented occupancy" for local hotels.

Taking into account that perhaps the most numerous complaints from eyewitnesses of Maslenitsa were caused by the venue, which turned out to be too close to check, part of the press conference turned out to be devoted to the question of where the holiday was destined to take place next year. “If this site [near the Mirozhsky Monastery] remains, then it should not be the only one, nor the main one!” Zinaida Ivanova assured. Moreover, she added, Maslenitsa-2011 falls at the beginning of March, so the beach on the banks of the Great River is in no way suitable for large-scale festivities.

According to Ms. Ivanova, “places where it is more comfortable and safe” are being considered as alternative sites, namely: Komsomolskaya Square, the so-called “Golden Embankment”, Children's Park, Mount Sokolikha.

Victoria Khrushcheva was also asked to share her impressions of the event. She said that the representatives of the Tsarskoye Selo Carnival were most surprised by how long the “buildup of the Pskovites” took: for a long time there were no people who wanted to take part in the competitions (for this it was necessary to register in advance). On the other hand, on February 13 and 14, towards the end of Maslenitsa, according to Ms. Khrushcheva, "the telephones cut off."

Dmitry Ravikovich was forced to agree with this observation: “The assessment of people's activity was underestimated. The number of participants in Maslenitsa was 3-4 times higher than expected," he explained the numerous overlaps during the celebration by the unpreparedness of the organizers for the influx of visitors.

The unexpected mass character, according to the official, did not allow to fully appreciate all the ideas of the organizers. “Let's photoshop people and see: everything was there! - Mr. Ravikovich used an unexpected metaphor. “There were playgrounds for children, there was a screen with cartoons, there was a stage where some kind of events were constantly going on, there were ice sculptures, there was a puppet show, there was a snow fortress, there were games, dipping into an ice hole, horseback riding, pancake records…” he began to list.

“That is, if you list this set, everything was very decent, it was worthy ... They simply dissolved many things ... The people a little did not allow everyone to see what it was! But this is not a sad reason, but a pleasant one!” summed up the Chairman of the Economic Development Committee.

“It even seems to me that the organizers themselves were afraid of the grandeur of their idea!” Zinaida Ivanova suggested, supporting her colleague. However, Ms. Khrushcheva, who was immediately asked by journalists whether this was so, evaded a direct answer.

A separate item was the question of the Shrove Tuesday menu: everyone agreed that there were far fewer pancakes at the holiday than shish kebabs. “Probably, in recent years, our entrepreneurs have learned how to fry shish kebabs well and have forgotten how to bake pancakes ...”, suggested the host of the press conference, an employee of the regional media committee, Natalia Turobova.

As for the use of strong alcohol by the guests of the holiday (and this was observed everywhere, despite the promise of the members of the organizing committee for holding Maslenitsa to put a barrier on the way of those wishing to come “with their own” [ 3 ]), Zinaida Ivanova and Dmitry Ravikovich confidently stated that “the concept is not changed,” and that citizens “remarked” while drinking vodka with barbecue.

“There are acts on administrative responsibility for the sale, and eight people were taken to the sobering-up station in an ugly condition!” Ms. Ivanova shared her unflattering statistics, trying to prove the consistency of the organizers in implementing their anti-alcohol policy. However, everyone immediately agreed that 8 out of 60 thousand people is a drop in the ocean, which is not taken seriously.

After that, Zinaida Nikolaevna seriously voiced the idea that "participation in such grandiose cultural events should have an educational effect on the townspeople." So it remains to wait for the formation of the Pskovites, brought up by the All-Russian Maslenitsa.

Maxim KISELEV

1 See: M. Kiselev. Great Maslenitsa // "PG", No. 49 (470) of December 23-29, 2009; M. Kiselev. Pskov, damn it, region // "PG", No. 3 (474) of January 27 - February 2, 2010; A. Presnov. Shrovetide General // "PG", No. 4 (475) of February 3-09, 2010

2 See: A. Semenov. Butter churn // "PG", No. 6 (477) of February 17-23, 2010

3 See: M. Kiselev. Pskov, damn it, region // "PG", No. 3 (474) of January 27 - February 2, 2010;