#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. Big Argish is a celebration of the long Taimyr winter meeting. The festival immerses local residents and the territory guests in the original culture of the Taimyr peninsula, introduces the traditions of indigenous peoples, helps to understand why the Nganasans, Evenks, Dolgans, Enets and Nenets love winter so much.
The annual event is organized by the Norilsk Development Agency (NDA) with the support of the municipalities of Norilsk and Taimyr and the Nornickel company.
Big Argish claims to win in the Best City Holiday and Educational Event of the Year categories.
“The festival takes place in early November – in Taimyr it is a month of little darkness, when all the lakes get covered with ice, the ground freezes and it becomes easier for people to argish (that is, to roam the tundra) compared to summer. Indigenous ethnic groups come to visit the Norilsk people. As if they are making a big stop on the way of their argish right in the center of the city. And on the main round square an ethnic camp appears.
Next to street locations, we create festival venues inside warm buildings. People can warm up without leaving the event, and then return to the street again. This approach, combined with indoor and outdoor zones, helps a lot in the North and makes the festival program more interesting”, Karina Andreyeva, head of social, cultural and educational projects of the NDA, told the jury members.
Recall that in 2022, almost ten thousand guests visited the Taimyr main ethnic holiday Big Argish. During the festival, shops in Norilsk open themed zones dedicated to the Big Argish. This Is Taimyr told how in the Taimyr Oikumene the Big Argish festival lit a fire of friendship as a symbol of the unity of all peoples and the beginning of the ethnofest.
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Text: Angelica Stepanova, Photo: Denis Kozhevnikov and Norilsk Development Agency
