The entertainments on Pancake week in Tomsk in the second part of the XIX century

This article is devoted to the study of festive culture in Tomsk in the second part of the 19th century, namely toone of the most favourite Russian national holidays - the Pancake Week opening the spring cycle of ceremonies of the national calendar.It is the first time the celebratory culture of Tomsk has become a subject of ethnographic study. Preceding the Lent in Christian ceremonialism,the Pancake Week had no certain date in the calendar. The holiday traditionally begins seven weeks prior to Easter, and lastsfor seven days before the Lent. On the basis of the studied periodicals we learnt that the Pancake Week was celebrated in Tomsk in February- the first half of March. The source for the reconstruction of Pancake Week entertainments is materials of the local newspapers:Sibirskiy Vestnik, Sibirskaya Gazeta, Sibirskaya Zhizn, Tomskiye Gubernskiye Vedomosti, Tomskiy Listok and Tomskiy SpravochnyListok. The complete study of the periodicals source (till 1899) has made it possible to reveal celebratory entertainments characteristicfor the Pancake Week, which are described in articles. The author divides them into traditional and new, their transformation is tracked.The traditional elements of the Pancake Week in Tomsk during the specified period were the bliny, sledging off mountains, horse raceson the river ice, fisticuffs and wrestling. In spite of the fact that the magic component of the citys celebratory activities practically lostits value, formally they still corresponded well with the rural peasant culture. The new citys entertainment was skating, horse races atthe hippodrome, circus, magicians, and masquerades. Buffoonery, roundabouts and balls were also arranged, but they did not become atraditional element of the Pancake Week. In the article the transformation of traditional elements of the holiday is studied: fisticuffsbecome fights, sledging is partially replaced with horse races, wrestling disappears. Its successor much later is circus fight. The materialshows that the festive culture of Tomsk during the Pancake week in the second half of the 19th century was developed. It included a setof elements, constant and variable, connected with the rural peasant culture and innovations, caused by the forming culture of the city, inmany respects under the impact of the western influences. Tomsk did not lack for public amusements. In the city on the Pancake weekentertainment was organised in different places for the population of different levels.

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