Bridal Parade (Bridal Carnival) is an annual festive procession of Nizhny Novgorod brides. It is held in June, close to the date of the summer solstice.
The Essence of the Event
The Bridal Parade introduces potential clients to the possibilities of Nizhny Novgorod's wedding and show business.
Invited guests can look forward to a bright, dynamic show program, photo shoots by the best wedding photographers in Nizhny Novgorod, video presentations from sponsors, and the most up-to-date ideas of the 2009 wedding season.
Contests are also planned, with prizes and gift certificates from sponsors awaiting the winners.
Background
Nizhny Novgorod first saw so many brides at once on July 27, 2008. The festive procession was dedicated to the Year of the Family in Russia.
But the event showed that the main values of society — family and motherhood — are not tied to any particular moment in time. It was therefore decided to make the parade an annual event. The second part of the 2009 celebration was dedicated to future brides and took place in the Coat of Arms Hall of the Nizhny Novgorod Yarmarka: guests were treated to a show program, contests, and gift certificates from sponsors.[1] By tradition, at the end of the procession the brides threw their bouquets — any willing spectator could try to catch one.[2] The city's best stylists, makeup artists, and florists worked on the participants' looks; according to one of the organizers, Olga Maltseva, simpler dresses and bouquets with lilac-colored flowers were in fashion in 2009.[2] The route of the 2009 procession ran through Sormovskiy Park and Bolshaya Pokrovskaya Street; a luxurious motorcade of white limousines carried the participants to the city's main venues.[1] The second brides' parade, titled "Brides in the Big City II," took place on June 21, 2009: 18 young women in wedding dresses took part.[2] The idea for the event came from one of the city's wedding internet forums, where married women were invited to walk the streets in their wedding dresses; the proposal immediately found a response online.[2]
The tradition of holding the "Brides' Festival" originated on April 27, 1670, the day the review of brides for Tsar Alexey Mikhaylovich came to an end. In all, 70 girls from Moscow and other Russian cities were presented to the tsar. In the end, the 36th in line — Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina, the future mother of Peter the Great — was chosen as the sovereign's wife. Had Tsar Alexey Mikhaylovich, back in 1670, on the day the festival was founded, been brought only a single bride to review, the sovereign would hardly have been pleased.
In the Press
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On April 28, 2009, a unique parade, the "Brides' Festival," took place at the Vera Theater. It was organized by the administration of Kanavinsky District together with the Main Directorate of the Civil Registry Office (ZAGS) of Nizhny Novgorod Region.
What made the parade unique this year was that only one young couple who had applied to the registry office to register their marriage appeared at the event, instead of the forty announced. "Apparently the mistake was made at the registry office itself; on our side, everything necessary to invite young couples to the festival was done," press secretary of the Kanavinsky District administration Valeria Sevostyanova commented on the situation. Well, with one bride or with forty, the festival had to take place, and it did. The head of Kanavinsky District, Boris Krokhin, congratulated both the young couple and the Agafonovs, who were celebrating their golden wedding anniversary, and presented them with commemorative gifts. The announced contests and competitions were not destined to take place for lack of participants, but the entertainment program was by no means meager: there were performances by children's groups and family amateur acts, all of which saved the festival from complete failure. |
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