UF Russian Culture Club hosts 15th annual fairy-tale festival

In the Graham Hall courtyard, four women adorned in tall, embellished headdresses sang traditional Russian folk songs.

The women performed for about 100 people Sunday at the UF Russian Culture Club’s 15th annual fall festival.

Daria Bulatnikova, the Russian Culture Club’s president and a UF marketing sophomore, said club members were excited for this year’s fairy-tale theme.

“Russian folklore is like our Disney World,” the 21-year-old said.

Bulatnikova is a Russian immigrant from Yoshkar-Ola, which is about 600 miles from Moscow.

She said club members made dozens of Russian dishes, folklore costumes and decorations for the festival.

Jeffrey Fiedler, a Gainesville resident, said he enjoyed sampling the foods, especially the blini.

“(It’s) sort of like a crepe or blintz; every culture has something similar,” he said.

Attendees also tested three Russian sodas, wrote their names in Russian, took photos with fairy-tale characters and made matryoshka dolls, the Russian nesting doll.

Each member of the club’s board wore a traditional folklore costume and participated in the storytelling portion of the event. Women wore  hand-made headdresses called kokoshniks. It took Bulatnikova 10 hours to design hers.

Neelesh Bapatla, the organization’s vice president and a UF Russian senior, dressed up as one of “The Three Bogatyrs,” a Russian version of “The Three Musketeers.” Bapatla said his character, named Ilya Muromets, is his favorite.

The 22-year-old said the event was a good way for students to learn more about Russian culture.

“The Russian community, I wouldn’t say it’s invisible, but it’s something that Americans don’t usually think about, so it’s a good way to get a sense of the culture outside of politics,” Bapatla said.

UF Russian Culture Club president Daria Bulatnikova serves food at their annual fall festival, which changes themes each year.