This week was Nauryz, the celebration of the birth of Spring and the new year on the Persian calendar (which apparently has spread to much of Central Asia and other regions nearby). It is a major holiday in Kazakhstan, so we were off Wednesday through Friday. Thursday was the actual day of celebration, and it managed to stop snowing and even reach temperatures above freezing which felt fantastic.
There were many festivities throughout the city, but we chose to attend the ones nearest to our home. We were actually able to walk down a few blocks to an area around the monument to independence where inflatable yurts (traditional Kazakhstan dwellings) housed different arts and crafts. The artwork was quite good and fun to see. There were also men walking around on stilts, balloons and noise-makers for kids, baked goods, and some adorable dancing by some girls dance club.
There was also a large theatrical production with beautiful costumes, dancing, and singing, but because the President was in attendance, only those in the VIP bleacher seating and the crowd that was there first could see it. I could glimpse it from a distance because of my height, but we couldn't hope to get any closer. We watched a bit of it on the large screen where the cameras filming it were projecting, but it just wasn't the same. We wish we could have seen it, and this blog would have been much longer.
The celebration was fun, and we really enjoyed getting a bit more exposure to local culture and traditions. And the weather wasn't bad either. A good holiday.
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