Matvey Kiyko is a 14-year-old blogger from Tobolsk who selected books for Siberians at the Moscow International Book Fair.
Photo: provided by the organizers.
What do books, a hot air balloon and a skate ramp have in common? All this happened at the Tobolsk festival, which took place from September 15 to 17. Not only residents of nearby cities, but also tourists from beyond the Urals, from the European part of Russia, came especially for the festival to the first capital of Siberia. In recent years, Tobolsk has become a center of tourism: the city has a rich history, which is now supported by incredible Siberian cuisine. Well, the festival became one more reason to visit this welcoming and very beautiful city.
TO REVIVE A “SLEEPING” STREET
Siberian Story Festival “Books in the city. Tobolsk” developed throughout the city. But the main location was Mira Street. Once upon a time there was a vibrant life: here were the houses of rich merchants and next to it there was a market square. But then the street “fell asleep “, lost its former shine and they even began to call it “the street of dead houses.” Some thought it was a strange decision to hold a book festival here, but the idea bore fruit. The books and the street became friends.
– Tobolya, to tell the truth, is spoiled by the holidays. Every weekend we have something to do,” says Elena, a resident of Tobolsk. – But the Books in the City festival is special. It’s like a puzzle picture: it has many components for a variety of people: for children, for extreme athletes, for intellectuals, for those who love excursions, culture and art, exciting stories, theater…
Photo: Provided by the organizers.
In fact, the festival’s lineup includes more than 110 events for adults and more than 40 for children, meetings with writers, theater excursions, master classes, tasting excursions and much more.
The current festival was dedicated to Vitus Bereng, the great discoverer. In the meetings with the authors, many interesting facts about his biography were learned.
The second, but not the last, famous name associated with Tobolsk is Dmitry Mendeleev. He was born here and came here many years later. Psychologist, actress Olesya Potashinskaya and Maxim Abaev, editor-in-chief of the Science and Life portal, tried to create a psychological portrait of the scientist based on the facts of his biography.
Photo: Provided by the organizers.
RAMP FOR SKATERS AND “SECOND LIFE OF THE BOARD”
The “lighthouse” of the party, its symbol, became a hot air balloon. It attracted adults and children from afar. Anyone who bought books at the fair could fly high in their basket. And there was plenty to choose from: the most authoritative publishing houses in the country, as well as local authors, came to Tobolsk with their interesting novelties and hits. There was a line for everyone: some bought novelties, others asked questions to the fellow writer and took souvenir photographs with the authors.
Another place that always had many guests was the skating ramp-library. Of course, you can ride on it and, also, while waiting for your turn, look at books on the shelves located on the sides of the structure. By the way, the books for this mini-library were chosen at the Moscow International Book Fair by 14-year-old Tobolsk blogger Matvey Kiyko. The teenagers appreciated it!
Photo: Provided by the organizers.
Meetings with the best runners of Siberian lands were also held here. Pavel Tretyakov, Egor Bakhtov, Andrey Melnikov, Nikita Antonovsky, Arseny Lapshin, Savvaty Prutov gave demonstrations and in the evenings answered questions from novice riders.
Skateboarding is a vibrant hobby that you will always want to keep as a memory. But this is very difficult to do. Skate photographer Nurtai Syzdykov and skate videographer Denis Zhurik shared their professional secrets. And Yekaterinburg skater Egor Bakhtov also told how a skateboard can be used when it is no longer suitable for skating. According to Egor, the board becomes almost like a family for the cyclist, “they grow together energetically” and it can be difficult to separate from it. By the way, a skateboard doesn’t last long during intense skating, just a couple of months. Egor makes interior items from disused boards, as well as rings and keychains. His products are in demand. Beautiful, practical and ecological!
PRISON STORIES
On excursions you can learn many interesting things. Tobolsk Museums together with the team of the Siberian fairy tale festival “Books in the city. Tobolsk” devised many new routes. In the Museum of Nicholas II and his family, located in the Governor’s House, you could learn about the months that the imperial family spent in Tobolsk. Especially on the occasion of the holiday, a guided tour of the museum was held of the judicial system, located in the house of the Kornilov merchants. Now there are justices of the peace there and it is very difficult to enter the closed museum. Siberian stories provided such an opportunity.
Photo: provided by the organizers.
Of course, another popular spot with hikers was the Prison Castle, the museum of Siberian hard work and exile. In past centuries, Tobolsk was a real penitentiary center. From here they advanced in the stage, and here they served their punishment and exile. Many famous inmates visited Tobolsk prison. Who and WHAT was not exiled here! It all started with the Uglich bell in 1591, which announced the death of Tsarevich Dmitry. They “cut out his tongue” and took him to Tobolsk. Then Mikhail Fedorovich’s fiancée Maria Khlynova was exiled here, and later Dostoevsky and Korolenko languished behind bars here. During the excursion it was discovered that the prisoners were provided with hot food once a day. Twice a week and on holidays they served rabbit soup. For crimes there was a punishment cell. They could be “stuck” there for up to 15 days. And the punishment cells themselves were of different types: hot, cold, dark, wet, humpbacked (the one where you can’t straighten up). They only fed us bread and gave us boiling water.
WHERE DOES THE CROISSANT COME FROM IN SIBERIA?
Tasting excursions evoke much more pleasant emotions. In Tobolsk they realized that, having such a rich history, it is not necessary to invent something radically new, we have to use what we have! For example, Siberian croissants. Does it sound strange? But how delicious! Croissants appeared in Tobolsk together with the royal family. During a visit to Paris in 1896, the crowned couple really liked crescents. The emperor’s cooks brilliantly mastered the French recipe. When the family was sent into exile, cook Ivan Kharitonov followed them and began baking croissants for the Romanovs in Tobolsk. In the Governor’s House, in the basement, a kitchen and a pastry shop were organized. Each day, the frosty morning air of Tobolsk was filled with the aromas of freshly baked bread and French pastries. Today’s chefs turned French croissants into Siberian ones: they began to bake them with local fillings: sea buckthorn, cherries, currants and, of course, pine nuts and honey.
The next festival of Siberian stories “Books in the city. Tobolsk” will be held in a year.
