Sabantui

Sabantui is a national feast of bashkirians and tatars. In ancient times tatars had a big feast “Zhien” (gathering) – the day to meet relatives living in other villages or towns. Very often they made “zhien” for people of one group of villages, then the other and so on. The guests came on the decorated wagons with bells ringing and presented sweets to the kids on the streets. Traditional presents for the hosts were two loafs of white bread and one or two sun-dried geese. Zhien was especially interesting for the young people. There were lots of competitions between people from different villages.

In the course of time Zhien was merged with another ancient feast which took place in the period between end of sowing and beginning of haying time. This feast is called Sabantui (feast of plough). This day is usually very cheerful. The guests can taste national tartar dishes. These are traditionally sweets (such as kush kue - pastry straws, urama and other sweets), meat and poultry dishes (tuturgan tauk).