Postcard from Bishkek

Back in 2005, Kyrgyzstan experienced the first of its recent revolutions.  On March 24th, several weeks of protests culminated in a demonstration outside the Government House, (the White House), and President Askar Akaev feld, driving out of the back entrance of the compound as the masses gathered in front of the building.  The crowds were […]

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 […]

Kuman Ait is also known as Eid al-Adha (or the “Feast of Sacrifice”) and is the most important feast of the Muslim calendar. (Eid is an Arabic word derived from the Arabic word, “aada” that means a recurring event – one that returns. In Islam it it is used to denote a festival.)

Although in Soviet times, November 7th was a major holiday accompanied by parades and much merrymaking, in modern Kyrgyzstan it is a fairly subdued affair.  Indeed, for several years following independence, the holiday was dropped from the list of official public holidays – being reinstated in 2004. Although official parades are no more, the Communist […]

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 […]

Christmas is not the only festival that we experience a surplus of in Kyrgyzstan – there’s also New Year. The history of the Calendar which we use is a long and complex affair.  At present we tend to mark the beginning of the New Year on 1st January.  It has not always been so … […]

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 […]