The audience of the ceremony enjoyed the light and laser show, reindeer sledding races, theatrical performance with the local charm and creative performances.
In total, within the framework of the 87th international Holiday of the North, 16 competitions in 11 sports will be held, including competitions in cross-country skiing, speed skating, alpine skiing, biathlon, national sports, sailing, bandy, mini-football on snow, rugby on snow and others.
A detailed program of events can be found on the Ministry of Sports of the Murmansk region website.
The main sporting event in the Arctic has been going on for 87 years. It all started with cross-country skiing. 86 skiers from five Russian cities competed at the first Holiday of the North in 1934. There were also special paramilitary competitions, which included cross-country skiing and shooting, it was pretty much what we now call biathlon.
New sports were added to the program of the Holiday of the North every year: skiing and speed skating, cross-country skiing and bandy. Practical assistance, especially vital in the first years of a new sports initiative, came from the regional union of sports societies and organizations (reorganized later into the regional sports committee).
Currently, the Holiday of the North is widely celebrated all around the Murmansk region, events are held even in the most remote and hard-to-reach places. In 2021, in the village of Krasnoshchelye, as part of the annual Holiday of the North and the Reindeer Herder's Day, hosted traditional reindeer sled races for men, women and boys and girls from 5 to 12 years old at a distance of 1600 meters. The events were timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of Krasnoshchelye, which was founded in 1921.
Last year, a Murmansk photographer and a member of the Russian Geographical Society for the Murmansk Regional Branch Vitaly Novikov, had a chance to participate in the events in the village of Krasnoshchelye. He shared his experience with the Murmansk Regional Branch of the Russian Geographical Society and talked about the living arrangements in village.
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Krasnoshchelye, located on the Ponoy River, is not connected by all-season roads with other population centers, in summer you can only get there by helicopter. The local airlines use the “Krasnoshchelye” airfield for landing. Every Tuesday, a regular helicopter flies from the village of Lovozero to Krasnoshchelye; once every two weeks, the helicopter flies along the Lovozero – Krasnoshchelye – Kanevka – Sosnovka route. In winter, residents and guests of Krasnoshchelye get there from the village of Lovozero along the winter road. The 130 km long journey, depending on weather conditions and the density of snow on the road, can take from two-three hours to eight or more.
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The traffic flow along the winter road begins when the snow becomes dense enough and thick ice forms on rivers and lakes. It should be thick enough for tractors and snowmobiles to pass through it. On the way you need to cross several rivers, Lake Popovskoye and Lake Umbozero. The road is the same for tractors and snowmobiles, when it becomes warmer, the road deteriorates quickly, and it becomes very difficult to drive. The winter road is used up to April.
Tractors transport large tanks with fuel and lubricants - diesel and gasoline. There is no central electricity in the village, only a diesel generator, so during winter the residents have to bring enough fuel to last for the whole summer. Electricity in the village is supplied only during the daytime, at night it is turned off completely.
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All the necessities are brought to the village along the winter road, cars are also brought there on tractor sledges. These are mostly old Soviet and Russian cars. The village itself is quite long, local residents use cars to go fishing and to the store, but it is impossible to go further than the village.
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According to the All-Russian Population Census of 2010, there are 423 people living in Krasnoshchelye, many of them are representatives of the small peoples of the North, mostly Komi and a small percentage of Sami. They are engaged in fishing and reindeer husbandry. The village is one of the few places on the Kola Peninsula where reindeer husbandry is seriously developing.
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The very name “Krasnoshchelye" comes from the word "щелля”, which in translation from the Komi-Zyryan language means "high steep bank".
