On Thursday, 7 January 2010, the Rüdersdorf late repatriate group celebrated its first official Yolka festival with its Russian, Uzbek and Kazakh members as well as friends and guests. This festival is a Russian tradition, comparable to German Christmas, where children in particular get their money's worth and receive presents. The event was organised by Kultur GmbH and the Brücke community centre. Around 80 people celebrated in the Kulturhaus from 4 p.m. - there were more than expected, so that some people had to stand in the entrance to follow the colourful programme. Father Frost handed out presents to the children, who in turn performed poems and songs and were delighted by Pippi Longstocking with her monkey and horse. Under the direction of Mrs Irina Behrendt (municipality of Rüdersdorf near Berlin), the "show group" had their first performance and delighted the audience with doubles of the "Wildecker Herzbuben" and the Matryoshka dancing to the Russian classic "Kalinka". The crowning finale was a dance choreography to Genghis Khan's "Moscow". A buffet with Russian, Uzbek and Kazakh specialities provided for the physical well-being. These were prepared two days before the festival as part of a cooking course led by Ms Anna Mahleid (Bürgerzentrum Brücke).
The Yolka festival was so well received by everyone that it was generally agreed that it will definitely be repeated next year.
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