Hello everyone!
Kazakhstan is a proud and relatively new country, having
only celebrated its 20th birthday last December. It wants to
showcase its national culture to the world; one example is the rise of the
Kazakh language. This is often to help the country recover from its time as the
Kazakh SSR, when the Soviet Union used its land for projects as diverse as
water irrigation, gulags and nuclear testing. There are few Soviet events that
are openly celebrated here, but the 9th of May is one of them.
On the 9th of May, Germany surrendered and the
Allies had won the war. You may see that as a typo – in Britain we are always
taught that VE Day is on May 8th. Apparently, the reason that it is
celebrated a day later in the former USSR is because of the delay in the
message being relayed to Moscow.
Kazakh fun fact:
Kazakh soldiers were among the first to reach Berlin in April 1945, and three
of them helped to hoist the Red Flag over the final Nazi stronghold.
Either way, Victory Day is a big celebration in many of the 15 former Soviet republics, and Kazakhstan is no exception. It is yet another national holiday, which once again meant that we had time on our hands to explore the city which didn’t really exist when this celebration first occurred.
The weather matched the mood in Astana, the Sun searing down
on smiling faces as crowds congregated eagerly close to Congress Hall. They were
waiting for what turned out to be a concert of patriotic singing and dancing, the
performers in which were all dressed perfectly in old Soviet uniforms. It was a
shame that the main memory for us was one of the dancing soldiers slipping and
falling. It was a nice show of pride and euphoria that must have matched the
mood all those years ago.
Astana itself has been decorated for the occasion. The town
had most definitely been painted red with posters and banners exclaiming and
reminding of the importance of the day.
The events carried on into the dark night, which was
illuminated with booming and ferocious fireworks. Car alarms were set off in
copious numbers, such was the power of the soundwaves generated from each
colourful explosion. It all added to an atmosphere of military might and power
that is a stark reminder of this new country’s past.
Though this past may be chequered and often painful to learn
about, there are plenty of times of celebration, and Victory Day is just
another one.
Love you all
Matt
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