Nsnkthe folk calendar: Russian holidays and traditions explained simply

An independent reference on folk holidays and traditions. It is not a news outlet or a government agency and has no connection with the former website on this domain.

Archive

Archive

Here you will find every published page of the reference in order of preparation date. The archive is useful if you want to go back to something you have already read or check what has appeared since your last visit. Each entry has a topic tag: holidays, costume, crafts, family or safety. New pages are added here as soon as they are published, and earlier entries are never deleted or rewritten after the fact without a note.

There are no empty promises in the archive: every line leads to a page you can open and read right now. That is how the reference stays honest with its readers.

— Editors' view

The rule is simple: an entry appears here only once a page is published and opens. The date shows the day it was prepared, and the tag shows the main topic. Addresses from the former website are not carried over to the archive, except for two that external links still point to: our own reference pages now live there. If an article is significantly updated, the date in its entry changes and the feed of new articles reports the change. Topic tags in the archive match those in the feed, so by choosing one you will see all pages on holidays, costume, crafts, family or safety at once, without endless scrolling.

2026

Old addresses on this domain

A different website used to run on this domain. The Nsnk reference has no connection with it and does not restore any of its content. External links still point to two old addresses, so we have placed our own reference pages there: a safety guide for folk festivities and the story of the kokoshnik. No other addresses from the former website were carried over. Both pages are newly written, exist only in Russian and cover the same subject as the rest of the reference: folk holidays and customs.

  • Reference

    Glossary: Svyatki, Maslenitsa, spring calling songs, Kupala night, harvest, kokoshnik, sarafan, poneva, painting, weaving.

  • New

    A feed of new material in the reference, with dates and topic tags.

  • Sections

    The four themes of the reference: holidays of the year, folk costume, crafts and family traditions.

  • Collections

    Reading paths: the winter holiday cycle, celebrating with children, and crafts for complete beginners.

Sources

  • Nsnk reference material

Customs are described in general terms as of the date this material was prepared. The same holiday was kept differently from village to village and from family to family, so what your older relatives remember may well differ from what is written here, and that is perfectly normal.