Festival “Legendary epochs”: from the time of the Vikings to the Great Patriotic War

2023-07-17 15:30:00

Guests from the Grodno and Brest regions, as well as Minsk residents, gathered to immerse themselves in the history of the wars that took place in Belarus. The reenactors recreated five historical eras: the arrival of the Vikings, medieval chivalry, the 17th century, the opposition of the Russian army to Napoleon, the liberation of Zelva in the Great Patriotic War.

In the first half of the day, Varangian fights took place on the central stadium with original stands made of straw bales, and a little later, knights clad in heavy armor from the time of the Battle of Grunwald fought. A little further away, a tent camp of reenactors was set up, where both the Vikings and the soldiers of the times of Kutuzov and Napoleon peacefully coexisted. Here, the authentic life of each of the presented eras was recreated.

The guests were entertained in interactive zones with archery, on rides for children. The reenactors willingly took pictures with everyone, and sometimes it was possible to try on chain mail and a helmet. Souvenirs and delicacies were sold in the tents of the city of craftsmen, while potato pancakes and shish kebabs were offered to guests at the modern food court.

An excursion into the history of the war of 1812 began with a story about the features of the tactics of battles, acquaintance with the equipment of the grenadier of the Russian army. Then the maneuvers began. The soldiers marched to the beat of the drum, the cannons fired, the wounded and the dead fell. The French cavalry pressed on the attackers. Of course, the French eventually retreated.

The central event was the reconstruction of the liberation of Zelvenshchina from the Nazi invaders by Soviet troops and partisan detachments. The reconstruction took place, as the organizers assure, on a historical site, in a field near an old mill, where battles with the invaders took place on July 14, 1944.

The participants of the capital’s historical and patriotic association “Let’s Remember” reproduced the events of the Great Patriotic War with maximum reliability, for this purpose trenches were dug, a German tank, a lorry and a half, cars, motorcycles of the war years were involved.

The show didn’t end there. Mounted knights rode out to the central stadium. Judging by the feedback from the guests, the jousting tournament was the most memorable part of the reenactment. A clash is a pair duel in a tournament of two knights with spears on horseback. The competition was fought by two knights in full armor and with blunt spears. The purpose of the duel is to push the opponent off the horse at full gallop with a blow of a spear, or at least hit the opponent’s shield or helmet.

For the first time at the Zelvensky Festival, the era of muskets of the 17th-18th centuries was presented. Demonstration fights with the use of firearms, maneuvers of musketeers and armored boyars were held. The festival program ended with a folklore and ethnographic concert in the medieval style.

Those who did not have time for the festival in Zelva can visit the XIV international knightly festival “Our Grunwald” on July 22-23, which will be held in the museum complex “Dudutki”.

Andrey RYBACHUK (author’s photo)