Rustam Minnikhanov: Uyav has long ago become one of cultural symbols of multi-ethnic Tatarstan

On 29 June the Rais (Head) of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov, the Head of Chuvash Republic Oleg Nikolaev and the Hero of Russia Nikolay Gavrilov, who is also the Chairman of the public organization “The Federal National and Cultural Autonomy of Chuvash of Russia” took part in the fest of Chuvash culture Uyav held in the Town of Nurlat of the republic. 

Uyav is a spring and summer holiday held in the end of spring sowing and this year it gathered 100 Chuvash folk performers and teams from Tatarstan and various regions of Russia and organized arts and crafts fairs. 

Rustam Minnikhanov and Oleg Nikolaev looked round national homesteads, watched work of masters of traditional crafts and became guests at a Chuvash wedding.

A special big exposition, where Rustam Minnikhanov talked to participants of the special military operation and looked round an exposition of things manufactured by residents of the republic for soldiers, was dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War (WWII) and the Year of the Defender of the Fatherland. 

In his speech, the Rais of the republic emphasized that every year the Uyav has a broader circle of friends from various regions of Tatarstan and Russia and said:” Preservation of languages, cultures and traditions of representatives of ethnicities living in the republic, has always been and will be the priority. We attach substantial attention to the support given to such traditional national fests as Russian Karavon, Tatar Sabantuy, Mari Semyk, Mordva Valda shinyas and Udmurt Gyron Bydton. And today we are having Uyav at a hospitable land of Nurlat.” 

In his turn Oleg Nikolaev thanked the leadership of Tatarstan for supporting ethnicities living in the republic and creating all necessary conditions for preservation and development of their culture. “We try to do the same and are extremely happy when representatives of each ethnicity can demonstrate beauty and their specific traits and, the most important, can show the deep integrity of our Russian world. I am sure we will continue preserving this integrity and our unique identity as this is our strength,” he said. 

After the Head of Nurlat region Damir Ishkineev told about work done by Chuvash people in his region, Rustam Minnikhanov and Oleg Nikolayev handed in a number of awards for the development of national and cultural traditions of the Chuvash.