Sabantui can be included in the UNESCO list of the world heritage

National Tatar holiday Sabantui can be inscribed on the list of the UNIESCO non-material heritage, President of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaimiev said to "Interfax Povolzhye" agency.

"This unique holiday of Tatars is known from time immemorial and signifies ending of spring field works. Our ancestors celebrated Sabantui as a holiday of plough ", - M.Shaimiev said. He went on to say that there are special preparations for the holiday and it is a kind of a pause before haymaking when people presume to have a rest and fun for themselves.

"Sabantui celebrations start in the republic on the first Sunday of June and at the beginning is passing in all villages of the republic, on the next Sunday regional centers are celebrating the event, and on the third Sunday of June the Sabantui comes to large cities. Eventually, the Sabantui is marked by grandiose celebratings in Kazan - at the capital of republic ", - M.Shaimiev said.

He especially emphasized, that every year Sabantui is celebrated wider in the regions of Russia where Tatars live compactly including such cities as Moscow and St. Petersburg. "This year Sabantui has been celebrated in more than 20 regions of the country - in Tyumen, Astrakhan, Chelyabinsk, Ulyanovsk oblasts and in a number of other regions of Russia”, - M.Shaimiev said.

"A year ago, Director General of the UNESCO Koitiro Matsuura and me signed the communique about cooperation in the field of education, science and culture between UNESCO and Tatarstan. Tatarstan’s proposal to include the holiday of Sabantui in the list of masterpieces of oral and non-material heritage of the mankind of UNESCO was reflected in it. We have submitted necessary documents in the commission and the UNESCO Secretariat", - the head of the republic added. He reminded that the Kazan Kremlin has been already included in the list of cultural objects of UNESCO, and inscription of the Sabantui on the register of non-material heritage of the mankind would mean, as a matter of fact, a world recognition of this national holiday, " Interfax-Povolzhye" informs.