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Maslenitsa 2019 Celebrations (21 photos)

Maslenitsa is an ancient ceremony—a farewell to winter celebrated since pagan times in Slavic regions in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, and other countries. Maslenitsa, or Pancake Week, is both a folk and religious holiday tied to Shrovetide, the carnival before Lent. Some traditional festivities include the burning of effigies of “Lady Maslenitsa,” family visits, snowball fights, and the cooking and eating of blini,pancakes, or crepes. Below, some images of Maslenitsa this year from Russia, Belarus, and Kyrgyzstan.

A young woman poses for a photo in front of the burning “Bastille fortress,” built of wood pallets, a symbol of the 1789 French Revolution, during the celebration of Maslenitsa, the eastern Slavic Shrovetide, in the village of Nikola-Lenivets, Kaluga region, about 125 miles (200 kilometers) southwest of Moscow, Russia, on March 9, 2019. ( Mladen Antonov / AFP / Getty)
https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2019/03/maslenitsa-photos-2019/584569/