Donetsk – The traditional festival of blacksmith art was held in the “miners’ capital” for the 11th time already. Early in the morning, right on the lawn behind the city hall, the smiths deployed mobile forgeries, waking the city with the merry ringing of their hammers.
Later, during the official opening ceremony, the mayor Oleksandr Lukianchenko would report that this year’s “iron” festival in Donetsk had gathered masters from not only many Ukrainian cities, but also from the Netherlands, Russia, and the Czech Republic.
The mayor went on to hammer a symbolic nail and announce the program for the two days of the festival. It was full of various events, from the shoeing of a horse with freshly made shoes to the jazzman Inver Izmailov playing a 25-kilogram iron guitar.
However, what really caught the public’s eye were the works of art which were made right before them. Because of the coming Euro-2012 soccer championship, which will also be hosted in Donetsk, the contestants dedicated a considerable part of their works to sports themes. Yet the public, who also acted as the jury, obviously preferred the more traditional pieces: the elaborate Bird of Happiness, and the pretty fairy-tale characters from popular children’s cartoons.
By the way, the masterminds of the blacksmith festival announced that next fall they may have to look for a new venue for the festival in Donetsk. The little square outside the city hall cannot hold all the iron souvenirs that are left to the city by the grateful contestants.
