This time there were more guests than ever before. Many Minsk residents are well aware now that in late May the Loshitsa Park is the best place to have quality time and meet new people.The host of the festival, Lesovik, or Leshy (according to a primitive Slavic belief, a forest spirit which regulates and assigns prey to hunters), a.k.a. the deputy director of the park, Yevgeny Terekhov, was strolling around his realm in a carved wooden crown arm-in-arm with his mistress Bereginya (a Slavic mermaid). The two creatures from ancient legends told the guests about the park and estate, and Lesovik showed them the pearl of the park — a 300-year-old oak tree, a perfect place for newly married couples to ask for family happiness.
For the first time in the history of the festival the guests were treated to traditional dishes of ancient Belarusian cuisine. Beautiful ladies in medieval attire kneaded dough, baked flapjacks on rocks and poured honey and butter on top. Both adults and children confessed that was the most delicious dish they had ever tried.
The site of tilting matches and jousting were swarming with people. Smaller kids were lucky to be sitting on their fathers’ backs. A bit farther one could hear traditional medieval music and even take a lesson in ancient dancing.
