KRAJINA PEOPLE GATHERING “MOWING FESTIVAL” HELD

BELGRADE, JUNE 20 /SRNA/ – The Krajina People gathering “Mowing Festival”, a traditional event dedicated to preserving Krajina traditions, customs, and cultural heritage, was held today at the Selište plateau above Bukovac near Novi Sad.

Mowers from all Serb regions competed on 18 contest plots, including winners of some of the most prestigious mowing competitions across the Serb ethnic area. The programme began with traditional sports and chivalric competitions, including log sawing, klisanje /a traditional stick-and-ball game/, pig-herding contests, long jump, stone throwing from the shoulder, stick pulling, and tug-of-war. The event was attended by Mlađen Cicović, head of the Republika Srpska Representative Office in Serbia, who said that the gathering brings people together and helps preserve the identity, culture, traditions, and customs of the Serb people. He stressed that at a time when Serbia and Republika Srpska are facing significant pressures and challenges, it is particularly important to preserve Serb identity, culture, traditions, the Serbian language, the Cyrillic alphabet, and the Orthodox faith. “It is important that we remain united and gathered together, because that is the only path that provides the best response to every challenge and trial, and the way to demonstrate responsibility toward our people and the generations that will come after us,” Cicović added. A cultural and entertainment programme followed, including performances of the national anthems of Republika Srpska and Serbia, while the central event of the gathering was the grass-mowing competition. For more than two decades, the gathering has brought together mowers, competitors, and guests from various Serb regions with the aim of preserving ties to their homeland through fellowship, socialising, and the nurturing of traditional customs.