Tulip Festival celebrated in Torgay
"Ainaldym Senen, Atamekenim!" ("Admire You, My Fatherland"), a regional open-air festival of tulips, was held at the Toitobe Racetrack near Amangeldy district. And the journey to the valley of tulips did not even begin with this racetrack.
320 km from Kostanay, the organizers made a small yurt aul, where festival guests were given dishes of the Kazakh national cuisine: baursaks, koumiss, jent, and irimshik.
A master class on koumiss cooking was arranged there for everyone interested.
Yerlan Kalmakov, Head of the Regional Culture Department said that within the framework of Rukhani Janghyru Program, the away event aims at showing the culture and traditions of the Kazakh people. This was especially demonstrated for guests from other regions of Kazakhstan, as well as Russia.
Of course, the guests of the festival had the opportunity to contemplate a field of tulips. As local residents say, this year tulips have suffered from cold weather and, therefore, there are not so many of them as in previous years. However, this did not prevent them from enjoying the beauty of blooming tulips.
After having a rest in the village and visiting the tulip field, we moved to Toitobe, Amangeldy district. It was there all the crucial national festivals have been celebrated for many decades. Moreover, the program always includes horse racing, Qazaq quresi (national Kazakh wrestling sport), aitys (improvised poetry contest), asyk atu (national game) and, of course, a concert.
The yurt pavilion was an exhibition of the Kazakh people's household items.
For example, in one of them, there were museum exhibits of the most ancient dishwares, which the Kazakhs used in everyday life.
There was also a master class on making kites depicting tulips.
At the same time, Toitobe hosted a craft exhibition showcasing carpets, pottery products, musical instruments, and embroidery.
The concert zone became the center of the festivities, where the guests' attention was immediately attracted by 500 young dombra players preparing for the performance.
Audaryspaq, qyz quu, tenge alu national games competitions took place in another zone of Toitobe, while Qazaq kuresi, asyq atu, and toghyzqumalaq competitions were held at the sports field.
It is planned that the Tulip Festival will be annual. Indeed, the main goal of such an event is to preserve continuity, develop and promote the Kazakh national traditions, preserve the national identity associated with traditions and customs, language, and cultural heritage.
