Penza, 25 June 2016. PenzaNews. The Belinsky central park of Penza has hosted the second interregional traditional ethic arts and crafts festival “Sursky Yar” on Saturday, June 25. It is dedicated to Day of Friendship and Unity of the Slavic People.

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The festival featured a day-long fair “Live Sura Crafts,” where craftsmen from the Penza region, Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod got visitors acquainted with their goods, and shared secrets of their trade.

Moreover, visitors of the park were able to buy khalva and tea.

In addition, they were welcome to help themselves to pilaf prepared by the Penza Uzbek diaspora.

During the festival, ensembles “Leyne,” “Luchinushka” and “Chevgelina” performed at two stages installed in the park.

Another event organized during the festival was Natalya Filatova’s “Museum of Old Russia.”

“We curiously studied the history of our family, the old items left in legacy: we began collecting them, and soon had a whole museum on our hands. I am working in a school, so I also tell the children about them. They like it,” she told a PenzaNews reporter.

In addition, the festival featured an open beauty pageant “Sura Beauty”; a group of dedicated people were busy preparing for the event since the early morning. According to Irina Glukhova, director of the festivities center “Yunona,” this is the second beauty pageant held at the festival.

The official part of “Sursky Yar” featured speeches by organizers and esteemed guests of the festival. One of them – Sergei Kazakov, Distinguished Artist of Russia, artistic director of the Penza Lunacharsky Drama Theater, deputy of the regional Legislative Assembly – performed a drum solo.

Following the speeches, the chairman of the regional Russian Geographical Society branch Igor Pantyushov held a guided tour through the festival grounds.

Another notable feature of “Sursky Yar” was a showcase fencing match by Maxim Tereshin’s scenic fencing studio “Brand,” who followed it with setting up training fencing matches with the audience.

Throughout the festival, visitors were able to get into the holiday mood by decorating themselves with traditional henna painting or face painting, or sit with an artist to get a funny drawing of themselves.