After a period of writer's block, I am ready to provide another contribution. One more cultural.
Sovietlife.UASR
The Serious Origins of The Borodino Mud Festival
October 2, 2008
Festivals usually have a certain theme, but one festival in a suburb of Moscow revolves around one thing: mud
Here, in this village a short distance from the Soviet capital every October 2 to October 10, tens of thousands of Soviet and American teenagers enjoy vodka, concession stands, concerts, and of course, playing in the mud.
The climate around this time of year, between the warm summers and harsh winters, leads to a lot of mud on the ground, known as "rasputitsa". Thousands of teenagers brave the icy cold of the region, remove their garments, and start diving into the mud. Tug of rope and other games are played in this unusually enjoyable gunk.
Of course, the piece the resistance of the Mud Festival is a wrestling contest, where two opponents battle to see who can keep the other pinned in the slimy goo.
"Vodka and wrestling," says one Soviet teenager with a smile, "the two things we are best known for."
It is common for the Soviets and Americans to divide themselves into separate teams. During one mud wrestling match, I witness massive cheering from the American side, and massive boos from the Soviet side, as Joan, a teenager from Albany, defeats Olga, a teenager from Kiev.
Serious Origins
One would expect such a wild holiday wouldn't have such a serious historical background. But its origins lie in the most serious war in recent history: the war against the fascist menace.
"Borodino, due its location near Moscow, has played a strong role in Russian military history," says Mikhail Sasanov, a local history teacher.
The first time Borodino played a role was in the Battle of Borodino, when Napoleon's forces faced off against Russian forces. It became the prime example of a pyrrhic victory, as Napoleon's forces, decimated by this conflicted, and weakened by starvation, were forced to retreat from Moscow within a month.
Borodino would be put back into the spotlight, for the even more brutal battle between fascism and liberation, as the Axis and Comintern forces battle to defend the Soviet capital from destruction.
While the battle was one through blood, sweat, and guns, it was partly secured by the mud beneath our feet.
"Rasputitsa greatly slowed the Nazi advance," says Sasanov, "as the Nazi military gear was not designed to move through the thick mud."
Through the remainder of the war, as the Nazis were gradually push back into Central Europe, Borodino mud wrestling became a popular form of recreation for Soviet and American soldiers.
"The grim conflict pushed many comrades into war to relieve the agonies of war," says Sasanov.
In the 1950s, as Soviet-American reunions became popular throughout Comintern, the celebration of Soviet victory, along with the mud that helped secure Soviet victory, led to American and Soviet comrades celebrating the first of the Borodino Mud Festivals in 1958.
Decades later, as Soviet and American veterans aged, the memory of that conflict has faded in Borodino, and as been replaced almost entirely with insane parties and mud wrestling.
