Postcard from Bishkek

Norus is also known as: Noorus, Noruz, Nowruz, Nawruz, Navrus, Norouz … it is a public holiday in Kyrgyzstan.

Maxim spent the back end of last week busily scouring the internet for inspiration. For homework, one of his teachers at school had given him the task of drawing a poster, (a gazeta), to commemorate February 23rd, Dehn zashitnika Otechestva, (Defenders of the Fatherland Day – otherwise known as Army Day or Men’s Day). February […]

I had fun on Twitter this morning.  One organization had sent belated Christmas Greetings to everyone, apologizing that they were late.  I replied saying that, on the contrary, it was just in time as today is Christmas Day – here in Kyrgyzstan.  There were a couple of other tweeters who referred to “Three Kings Day”, […]

The word “Orozo” is Kyrgyz for “fast” – refraining from eating. Orozo Ait is also known as the feast of “Eid al Fitr”.  It is a celebration to mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan.  Ramadan is the month in which Muslims believe the first verses of the Quran were revealed to the prophet Mohammed – […]

Independence Day – 31st August – marks the formal declaration of independence of the Khirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic (KSSR) from the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) in 1991.

May 9th marks the surrender of Nazi Germany to Soviet forces and the end of the Second World War … In the West – May 8th is marked as Victory in Europe (VE) Day and marks the day after the German High command surrendered to the Western Allies.  The Red Army command, however, insisted that […]

One of the results of the Easter Revolution was that the Interim Government promised constitutional reform. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the declaration of Independence – Kyrgyzstan continued to operate under the auspices of the existing Soviet document.  It was on May 5th, 1993, that a new constitution was finally adopted, thus […]

In the west, the “May Day” holiday is associated with the Labour movement, and the former Soviet Union – with images of parades in Red Square.  It may not seem surprising then that a former Soviet Republic decided to keep with tradition and commemorate this day as a national holiday.

Although the Constitution declares that the Kyrgyz Republic is a secular state, it may be surprising that a number of religious holidays are commemorated. As the majority of the Kyrgyz, themselves, are nominally Muslim, it is understandable that amongst the national holidays are Muslim festivals such as Orozo Ait and Kurman Ait.  What might be […]

At the moment I am in the middle of a new project … putting together information for a website and publications (leaflet, brochure, booklet …) about the year in Kyrgyzstan. The idea for the project comes from the fact that Kyrgyzstan is not exactly well known for its festivals – in fact one website used […]