SYKTYVKAR, November 27. /TASS/. The Komi Region's Vorkuta - a polar city - celebrated the 80th anniversary on the past weekend. On Saturday morning, a deer race started from downtown Vorkuta. It is a most spectacular annual event, which this time was truly big, the local administration told TASS.
"The snow track <…> had been ready for a long time, snow was added where reindeer herders traditionally form a camp to prepare sleds for the race. There the city-forming enterprise Vorkutaugol (coal producer) had exposed the prize - an all-terrain vehicle, for which competed many participants, both corporate and private herders. The Festival of the North is an annual event, and it has become the most massive and spectacular this year, when we celebrate 80 years of the city," the municipal administration told TASS.
The celebrations included parades of snowmobiles and sleds, and then the deer race started. After the race, the guests saw competitions in national sports among the race participants. Immediately after them were the national costume contests - traditional children's and women's clothes of the Komi, Khanty and Nenets. At noon, the Komi Region's Governor Vladimir Uiba, as well as Roman Trotsenko, the owner of AEON's, a part of which is the city-forming Vorkutaugol, and the city administration officials greeted winners of the race and contests.
Vorkuta's Museum and Exhibition Center opened a new exhibition dedicated to the Pechora Coal Basin.
On Sunday afternoon, the locals and guests attended a festive theatrical concert and a laser show. The weather was favorable in Vorkuta - a light frost up to minus 15 degrees and wind, with no blizzards or storms.
About new exposition
The Vorkuta Museum and Exhibition Center's exposition about the Pechora Coal Basin presented old mining equipment and 3D samples of modern equipment, Olga Pavelko, Vorkuta's head of the Culture Department, told TASS.
"We have managed to make this exposition due to the fact that our museum has been participating for the second year in the national project Culture. Investments have come from the federal, regional and local budgets. We have made an excellent renovation, bought a lot of interesting equipment. The Museum and Exhibition Center has participated in the competition for the governor's grant and we have received support. We've used this money to develop a digital program for a 3D pyramid. It presents the Chikitov coal plant, <...> and the modern mechanized cleaning complex," she said.
The Vorkutaugol Company has made a certain part of the exposition that imitates the mine arch support, has provided a lot of old mine equipment, for example, a jackhammer, lamps, etc. The exposition is divided into four blocks - about the Pechora Coal Basin development, about outstanding workers, about the Vorkuta coal industry's development.
At the opening ceremony Komi's Governor Vladimir Uiba noted the polar city's great contribution in the Victory in World War II.
About holiday and Vorkuta
The Festival of the North. Reindeer Race event has become Vorkuta's hallmark. The festival marks the 25th anniversary in 2023. The event features nomadic reindeer herders in ethnic outfits and with reindeer sleds, reindeer herders from the Vorkuta District and the Nenets Autonomous Region. In 2017, the holiday was on the list of Russia's TOP 200 best regional and international events.
Vorkuta is a polar coal-mining single-industry town with a population of about 57,000 people. It is the 6th biggest city beyond the Arctic Circle, and one of the Russian Federation's 16 backbone territories in the Arctic zone. About 6,000 residents are employed with coal mining companies and support industries of the city-forming Vorkutaugol Company. Practically all the extracted coal is supplied to the Cherepovets Metallurgical Plant.