The month of May is a month full of celebrations and holidays in Russia. First of May is an official holiday, day of Spring and Labor (День Весны и Труда). Historically it evolved from the workers’ movement in the middle of the XIX century in Australia. Then the rest of world joined starting from the US, Canada and Europe. In Soviet Russia it became an official holiday date in 1918. In contemporary Russia this date is followed by “maevka” (маёвка) period. What is it? One day-off is usually turns out into a few days in a row. So maevka is a period of time when people go to dachas, start to plant seeds for summer garden and go outside of the city for a picnic.
On the following week the celebration of one of the most important dates takes place – Victory Day on May 9th. The day starts with a massive military parade on a central square to commemorate the memory of the fallen during the war. Then the citizens participate in the memorial march called the “Immortal Regiment”. In the evening there’s a big firework show.
The next celebration meaningful for St. Petersburg is its birthday on May 27th. It was founded in 1703 and each year the city celebrates it with concerts, parade and many cultural events like book festival and ice cream day. What can be better than to study Russian and become a part of the local events? ProBa Language School works from Monday till Friday regularly despite the official holidays so you don’t lose the number of your booked classes. It is a great chance to study and enjoy holidays with Russians at the same time.
