White Cranes Day
October 22 · Level 1 · #2037 of 2238
White Cranes Day remembers people lost in war and expresses a hope for peace. Its central image comes from a poem by Rasul Gamzatov, in which cranes evoke soldiers who never returned home.
How it is celebrated: schools, libraries and cultural centres hold poetry readings, musical performances and remembrance gatherings. Participants fold paper cranes, arrange memorial displays and observe a minute of silence.
The famous song inspired by the poem crossed a language boundary first: Naum Grebnev translated Gamzatov’s original Avar verse into Russian.