Funny holidays - Cucumber Festival in Suzdal

The first mention of a plant with juicy green fruits is contained in Indian manuscripts, which are 6 thousand years old. Cucumbers, which originally grew in Indochina, eventually began to be cultivated in other regions. A wild berry called the "vegetable of Egypt" is found in the Bible and treatises of Ancient Rome. The cucumber came to Europe under Charlemagne - in the 8th century AD. In Rus', fruits from seeds brought from Byzantium began to be grown in the 10th century. Over time, the vegetable began to be included in many national dishes: rassolnik, okroshka, beetroot soup, vinaigrette and other salads. Every year on the third Saturday of July, during the harvest of this crop in central Russia, the Cucumber Festival is celebrated in Suzdal. The festival program includes performances by folk dance and song ensembles, competitions, master classes on figure cutting and cooking dishes from the vegetable beloved by many. In the Museum of Wooden Architecture, where the festival is held, shopping arcades are being built that convey the atmosphere of a traditional Russian fair. Each of the three, “Salting”, “Craft” and “Obzhorny”, offers festival guests its own program. Here they taste jam and cucumber pies, make amulets and buy memorable souvenirs. The first festival was held in the Vladimir-Suzdal Museum-Reserve in 2001. The place for celebrations in honor of the annual plant of the pumpkin family was not chosen by chance - Suzdal has long been considered the birthplace of the cucumber. With proper care, the crop gives a good harvest even on a small plot of land. Vegetable gardening, the cultivation of horseradish, onions, garlic and cucumbers, was the most important occupation of the inhabitants of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality back in the 12th century. The tradition has not been interrupted for centuries. Under the USSR, cucumbers from home gardens not only ended up on the owner’s table, but were also sold. Technological progress has given farmers such a miracle of the chemical industry as the greenhouse film. Instead of building bulky wooden structures with glass frames, gardeners opted for lightweight structures with wire arches. In greenhouses, cucumbers grew quickly and abundantly, so in the summer season the harvest from Suzdal was sold at the collective farm markets of Vladimir, Kostroma, Ivanovo, Yaroslavl and even Arkhangelsk. Thanks to vegetable gardening, local residents were able to survive the harsh 90s. The cucumber is still the pride and symbol of Suzdal today. Ancient traditions of growing vegetables attract tourists to the city from other regions of the Russian Federation and from abroad. The shopping arcades amaze with the abundance of pickles, cucumbers of various varieties and sizes, which are sold by local gardeners and gardeners. The festival program includes gastro tours, visits to ancient Russian attractions and crafts fairs, where products of Suzdal craftsmen who are fond of folk crafts are presented. The festival, which lasts 3 days, traditionally ends with the launch of a cucumber doll into the sky.