International Santa Festival in Karakol

Photos posted by Elena Skochilo, available at: http://morrire.blogspot.com/

Santa Claus, also known as Russian Ded Moroz and Kyrgyz Ayaz Ata (in both languages translated as Father Frost) is a folkloric hero that brings gifts during the holiday seasons (on Christmas Day in Western countries and on New Year’s Day in the former Soviet Union). For many centuries this mysterious Father Christmas had been known to live in Lapland, Finland. However, in 2007 a group of Swedish scientists from SWECO insisted that Santa needs to relocate to Kyrgyzstan. According to them, by starting his journey from Kyrgyzstan, Santa can achieve the most efficient trip around the world to distribute gifts to millions of kids. As the scientists say, Santa has to make it to 2.5 billion households just in one night. Further, they justified that there are 34 microseconds to be spent on each house in order to travel at 5,800 kilometers per second. (ANI, London) “Kyrgyzstan is the best place because it is close to China and India, while it is also located in the northern hemisphere, which is more densely populated than the southern,”- said the group of scientists. So, simply saying, in order to travel that distance in such a short time, Santa Claus needs to start from Kyrgyzstan.

Though it was expected to create original ideas for Christmas presents and cards, it created a big controversy. A 606 Magazine they have claimed that it is impossible for Santa to travel the Earth with more than two million tons of presents, given energy spent per second. In order to be able to travel, clearly, Santa has to travel in space where there is no resistance. So be it as it may, Kyrgyz officials greeted this news with a great enthusiasm. On December 30, there was a mini Santa festival in Bishkek. At the central square of Bishkek there were more than 300 Santas, including Russian Ded Moroz and Kyrgyz Ayaz Ata that entertained local children and their parents. Later, on February 23 – 25, the Kyrgyz Agency for Tourism organized the International Winter Santa Claus Festival at Karakol ski base (AKI Press, Bishkek). Akbar Djigitov, tourism official, said: “It was a real surprise to find he would be best to set up his home in our country, but we think it perfect. Our mountains are very snowy, so he would feel at home.” Obviously there is a lot of work to be done, in order to be internationally recognized as the home country of Santa Claus.

So, if Santa Claus brings tons of happiness to kids around the world, perhaps, he needs to become Kyrgyzstan’s next president to make the people of this country happy?