PHOTO: Metropolitan Yevgeny of Yekaterinburg and Verkhotury opens the White Flower Festival on the square in front of the Church on the Blood

On 18th June 2023, with the blessing of Metropolitan Yevgeny of Yekaterinburg and Verkhoturye, the 10th annual White Flower Day Festival, founded 112 years ago by the Imperial Family, was held in Ekaterinburg. The festival was celebrated annually until the 1917 Revolution, but was revived in the Ural capitial in 2013.

This year marks the 300th anniversary of Ekaterinburg. In honour of this historic date, this year’s festival took on a special meaning, receiving the support of the regional government and the city administration. Festival organizers include the Ekaterinburg Diocese, the regional branch of the World Russian People’s Council, the Sverdlovsk Regional Medical College, the Orthodox Mercy Service, the Ekaterinburg branch of the Russian Red Cross, the Tsarsky Cultural and Educational Center, the St. Catherine’s Ring Community and the regional branch of the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society (IOPS).

PHOTO: the 10th annual White Flower Day Festival was held in Ekaterinburg on 18th June 2023

The organizers emphasized that the festival honours the Holy Royal Martyr Family. “It is our mission to restore the historical memory of the Imperial Family in Ekaterinburg, and to follow the traditions of mercy and charity which they shared,” said one of the organizers.

This year’s program included the opening ceremony featuring the Alexander Pavlov Orchestra and the regional Children’s Philharmonic, a musical procession, a parade of baby carriages decorated with white flowers, a choral festival of sacred music, the “Waltz of Flowers” dance marathon, concerts, charity fairs and master classes. At the end of the festival, the combined choirs sang “God Save the Tsar“.

PHOTO: more than 150 volunteers helped organize this year’s White Flower Day in Ekaterinburg

In this jubilee year for the Ural capital, festive events were held at three venues in the city – on the square in front of the Church on the Blood, on the square near the Monument to the Holy Blessed Princes Peter and Fevronia, as well as in the Park of the Literary Quarter. Policing at the sites was provided by members of the Orenburg Cossack Military Society.

It is on this day that city residents and visitors can make a donation by purchasing white flowers made in advance by parishioners, volunteers and sisters of mercy, as well as handicrafts from the “From Heart to Heart” project. All proceeds from the sale of the white flowers are distributed to help in the fight against cancer, tuberculosis and other diseases.

PHOTO: a volunteer demonstrates to children how the white flowers are made out of paper and satin ribbons

Addressing the guests of the holiday with a welcoming speech, Metropolitan Yevgeny (Eugene) told how the residents of the city appreciated this good tradition 112 years ago:

“I was told that when the first White Flower Festival was held in 1911, the population of Ekaterinburg was only 70 thousand people. Some 50,000 white flowers were made and distributed. Not only does the white flower symbolize mercy – it is also a reminder of the of acts of charity which the Holy Royal Martyrs held so dear to their hearts.

“I would like there to be love in our city of Ekaterinburg, so that children are brought up in good traditions. And so that the bearers of the white flower and the goodness that this flower symbolizes become greater with each passing year,” he added.

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PHOTO: a procession of motorcars and carriages adorned with white flowers pass through Ekaterinburg in 1911

In 1910, on the initiative of Emperor Nicholas II, a branch of the European League for the Fight Against Consumption was created by the Red Cross in Russia. As a result, the first White Flower Day was held in St. Petersburg on 20th April (O.S.) 1911. Following the example of the capital, residents of the Ural city wished to take an active part in the fight against tuberculosis. The first White Flower Festival was held in Ekaterinburg on 21-22 May (O.S.) 1911.

 A description of the event in the Ural capital has been preserved in the archives: “The holiday began with a Divine Liturgy on the square in front of St. Catherine’s Cathedral [demolished in 1930], which was served by His Grace Mitrofan, Bishop of Yekaterinburg and Irbit. After the liturgy, Dr. A.M. Spassky spoke about the significance of the holiday. Then the ladies began selling the flowers. The sale was brisk. By evening, it was impossible to meet a single person who did not have at least one flower pinned. The net collection of the holiday amounted to 7,443 rubles 13 kopecks.”

PHOTO: a motorcar adorned with white flowers, Ekaterinburg 1911

It was also in 1911, at Livadia in Crimea, members of the Imperial Family made white flowers with their own hands. The Romanov children eagerly participated in the event, walking through Yalta receiving donations and handing out flowers in return. The proceeds of which were used to build hospitals for tuberculosis patients.

Within the first few years, the festival was celebrated in 104 cities across the Russian Empire, including Ekaterinburg. In the first year, some 50,000 white flowers were made and distributed in the Ural capital, however, according to the Yekaterinburg Vedomosti newspaper, “it was not enough – many people wanted to contribute to this great and worthwhile charitable effort”.

PHOTO: up until 1917, White Flower Day became a favorite holiday of the townspeople in Ekaterinburg

During the first White Flower Day in Ekaterinburg in 1911, a procession was held on the city’s streets, in which motorcars and carriages were adorned with white flowers. In addition the townspeople pinned them to their clothes. The proceeds were used to fight tuberculosis and help the poor in the city. The charity holiday became one of the favorite of the townspeople and was celebrated in Ekaterinburg until the revolution of 1917.

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the White Flower Festival was revived. In recent years, the festival has made a comeback, and today the White Flower Day is held in many cities across Russia, including Ekaterinburg, which revived the festival in 2013.

© Paul Gilbert. 19 June 2023