A visit to Father Frost!

In December the Belarusian wizard has opened the winter season at the renowned Belovezhskaya Pushcha estate. Gifts and fulfilment of wishes are guaranteed for everyone, even adults! 

Father Frost’s estate is fabulously beautiful   Pavel Bogush

Catch the New Year express 

For tourists choosing to travel to Father Frost by train, the magic begins even on the journey. The themed train, adorned with festive lights and playing New Year music, sets the perfect mood with charming Snow Maidens as conductors.  
The feature of the railway tour is that travellers do not need to worry about anything: the cost includes not only tickets for the Minsk-Brest train but also transfers to and from Father Frost’s residence, entry tickets to several museums, guided tours, and even sweet gifts. A mandatory part of the programme is a hot snack at a local café. Guests are treated to the signature fluffy pancakes with jam and tea infused with Pushcha herbs.

Discover true Snow Maiden 

It is only in films that Father Frost works just one night a year. In reality, he has almost no days off. At least in the Belovezhskaya Pushcha, the wizard welcomes guests all year round. There, he has a splendid terem [tall, luxurious wooden building] adorned with wooden columns, intricate carvings, and frosty paintings on the windows. Anyone can peek inside to secretly tug at Father Frost’s white beard to make sure that it is real. The same is true about Snow Maiden, who assists Father Frost.  
The terem is not just a beautiful decoration but a real home. It showcases cosy fireplaces and even a bedroom. The bed has a total of seven pillows. Isn’t that too many for one person? It turns out, the largest pillow is where the wizard sleeps for 8 hours, while on the smallest one, he naps for just 30 minutes. Such are the quirks of the kind-hearted old man from the fairy tale.

Snow Maiden is Father Frost’s main assistant   Pavel Bogush

Grind away the bad 

In winter, Father Frost’s residence in the Belovezhskaya Pushcha is visited by nearly seven thousand guests per day. Notably, two-thirds of them are adults. According to Father Frost, it is especially adults who need faith in miracles. Tourists eagerly take photographs with the Belarusian wizard and make wishes while touching his gleaming magic walking stick. The mill, which grinds away all the bad, is also popular among adults. You simply need to touch its stone wall, recall all your wrongdoings and unworthy thoughts, and then say to yourself: ‘Mill, mill, grind everything bad away’. No joke! At the end of the year, there is always a queue at this place.
Just like at the Twelve Months’ glade. The wooden figures of all the brothers look just like in the beloved cartoon — from January the Young Man to December the Old Man. It seems as if snowdrops are about to bloom right behind them any time now. 

Find drawings from the past 

Every year, Father Frost receives up to 20,000 letters at his residence in the Belovezhskaya Pushcha — not only in Russian and Belarusian but in dozens of other languages as well. Children ask for gifts, share personal secrets, and express their dreams... Not a single letter goes unanswered! Father Frost finds time to reply to everyone. The postmen are really busy shuttling bags of correspondence to and fro. In fact, the kind wizard has a separate building for letters and gifts referred to as the ‘treasury’. It often happens that grown-up children, when finding themselves in this place, find their own drawings sent to Father Frost long ago. After all, last year marked 20 years since Father Frost’s estate in the Belovezhskaya Pushcha was established. 

Family album photos will be enjoyed for years to come  belta

Create Christmas tree decorations 

From spring to autumn, the Belarusian wizard manages the Belovezhskaya Pushcha on his own, and only on the first Saturday of December does the entire family gather there — his granddaughter Snow Maiden, Mother Winter, and her daughters Cold, Blizzard, and Snowstorm. A grand celebration is held for this occasion, inviting thousands of guests.  
All the fairy-tale characters are ready to offer tourists unique entertainment. For instance, in Mother Winter’s workshop, you can create an original festive gift for yourself and your loved ones — a New Year decoration for the Christmas tree or a traditional Belarusian protective charm toy.

By Sofia Arsenyeva