Revival of Nauryz holiday in Soviet Union

Tengrinews TV has obtained a rare video dated back to the Soviet era.
It was the Spring of 1989. It was the year when Kazakhs finally were able to celebrate their traditional spring holiday Nauryz for the first time after long years of Soviet regime. Folks were gathering for the grand celebration at the Old Square (now known as the Astana Square) in Alma-Ata city that was renamed to Almaty after the Independence.

The organizers approached the preparations of the first celebration with due diligence. The picture of the first celebration is still vivid in the memories of many. Some still can recall the Old Square where Alma-Ata natives and guests were watching theatric performances, local needlewomen were making national hats and souvenirs and everyone was drinking kumys (horsemilk). It was truly a cheerful and joyful day. Naurzys would also coincide with the spring sowing campaign and the workers would sprinkle the equipment with horse milk hoping for the year to be more fruitful.

This video is a new joint project of Tengrinews TV and the Central State Archive of Video and Photo Documents and Audio Recordings of the Committee for Information and Archives or the Ministry of Kazakhstan Communication and Information. Unauthorised distribution, copying or any other use of the materials is prohibited.