Ritual Year Spring 2024 (2) Seasonal Webinar (11 April 2024)

In our second 2024 spring webinar, we welcomed Aleida Bertran, visiting lecturer at the Latvian Academy of Culture, who gave a talk on folk festivals in Latvia and Northern Catalonia (Eastern Pyrenees). In her presentation, the speaker compared the pathways of cultural nationalism in the two regions, since the 1950s, with the explicit goal of understanding the role of international postmodern folk festivals with a political agenda.
The meeting was organized in a hybrid format: online and at the Estonian Literary Museum (Tartu), and moderated by Mare Kõiva.

Ritual Year Spring 2024 Seasonal Webinar (1) (25 March 2024)

Our spring webinar welcomed two speakers: Nikolay Kuznetsov introduced the audience to contemporary komi festivals, highlighting their connection to the local folklore, while Irina Sedakova, talked about rituals, feasts and folklore references in connection with the month of March, in Bulgaria. The meeting was moderated by Mare Kõiva and Irina Stahl. At the end, we had a brief anniversary moment, dedicate to Mare Kõiva and Irina Sedakova as well as to our WG, who celebrates this year 20 years of active existence.

Ritual Year Winter 2024 Seasonal Webinar (22 January 2024)

Our working group started the New Year with yet another online talk dedicated to Christmas and New Year celebrations around the world. The speakers, Guillem Castañar and Anastasiya Fiadotava, both visiting Research Fellows in Tartu (Estonia), introduced us to some winter customs in Catalonia and Belarus. The meeting was moderated by Mare Kõiva.

Ritual Year Autumn 2023 Seasonal Webinar (2 November 2023)

After a long break, a new edition of our webinar series was organized in a hybrid format: online and at the Estonian Literary Museum (Tartu).
In tune with the season, the meeting addressed the Day of the Dead / All Souls Day in Mexico and Estonia. Lisseth Pedroza Fuentes introduces the participants to the current festivities in Mexico and the various traditions they are built on (pagan, pre-Hispanic; catholic Hispanic, etc.), while Mare Kõiva and Reet Hiiemäe focused on the notion of the soul in Estonian folklore, customs and traditions in connection with the souls of the deceased and communication with the souls.
The meeting was moderated by Tõnno Jonuks.

Ritual Year Winter 2022 Seasonal Webinar (12 December 2022)

We ended 2022 with a new virtual meeting, our ninth, dedicated to food and culinary traditions. Two teams, from Romania (Otilia Hedeșan, Diana Mihuț) and Bulgaria (Ivaylo Markov, Petya Vasilieva-Grueva) resumed their recent fieldwork activity and highlighted some of their research findings. The discussions revealed numerous approaches to food, introducing us to the topic of our 2024 WG conference, also dedicated to food. In the last part of the meeting, several WG members paid a touching homage to our Founder and Honorary Chair, Emily Lyle, who turned 90 in December.

The meeting was moderated by Irina Stahl, Irina Sedakova and Laurent S. Fournier.

Ritual Year Spring 2022 Seasonal Webinar (31 March 2022)

The first 2022 virtual meeting was dedicated to traditional ball games, in particular the Hand Ba' games.

The four speakers: Laurent S.Fournier, Emily Lyle, Neill Martin and John Messner introduced us to the old tradition of ball games in France and Scotland and its evolution since the Middle Ages. Archival materials, newspaper articles and interviews have been used to reveal the dualistic structure of the game and its specific rules, in connection with the social structure of the community and the landscape in which it is held. The ball games, such as the one still performed in Jedburgh, have thrived even during the most difficult of times, such as during the two World Wars, bringing people together, and keeping the community spirit alive. It was an inspiring topic, dedicated to a passionate researcher of the game, Hugh Hornby (1969-2021).

The meeting was moderated by Laurent S. Fournier and Irina Stahl.

Ritual Year Winter 2021 Seasonal Webinar, special Christmas edition (13 December 2021)

We concluded the year with another, special Christmas edition. Our seventh e-meeting was dedicated to Udmurt winter traditions.

Three speakers from Udmurtia (Tatiana Vladykina, Galina Glukhova and Tatiana Panina) introduced us to the winter cycle of Udmurt calendar rituals, while Tatiana Minniyakhmetova and Eva Toulouze presented several recent publications on Udmurt traditions. The webinar ended with a fragment of an ethnographic movie from Bashkortostan, by Liivo Niglas.

The meeting was moderated by Irina Sedakova, our Chair, and Mare Kõiva.

Ritual Year Autumn 2021 Seasonal Webinar (25 October 2021)

Emily Lyle , our WG's Honorary Chair, opened our sixth webinar, dedicated to Mythology and celestial bodies. During her presentation she developed one of her previous topics of interest: the myth of the One-Eyed God and the signal star at the start of a season, with focus on Indo-European traditions. She was followed by Oksana Tchoekha (Russia) and Tsimafei Avilin (Belarus) who talked about the representation and myths in connection with the Sun, the Moon and other stars in Greek, Slavic and Southern Slavic traditions.

The meeting was moderated by Irina Sedakova, our Chair.

Ritual Year Spring-Summer 2021 Seasonal Webinar (26 May 2021)

Our fifth e-meeting focused on the Midsummer celebration.

Our three speakers, Tiziana Soverino, Terry Gunnell and Georgi Mishev presented old and new traditions from the Nordic countries, Ireland and Bulgaria.

The meeting was moderated by Irina Sedakova, our Chair.

Ritual Year Spring 2021 Seasonal Webinar, special edition (5 April 2021)

Anna Muradova (PhD, Independent Researcher, Tbilisi, Georgia) was the invited guest of our fourth e-meeting. The speaker introduced us to the works of the first Russian specialist in Celtic Studies, Ekaterina Balobanova (1847-1927), giving a detailed account of her fascinating travels to Bretagne, in the 1860s. Little known, Balabanova's works have recently been rediscovered in France, where her travel accounts have been translated to Breton by Anna Muradova and are expected to be published soon.

The meeting was moderated by Irina Sedakova, our Chair, and Mare Kõiva.

Ritual Year Winter 2021 Seasonal Webinar (1 February 2021)

Our third e-meeting focused on several celebrations that occur at the beginning of the calendric year: St.Brigit's Day and the Festival of Imbolc, carnivals in Ecuador and the Epiphany. Our three speakers were Jenny Butler, Tobias Boos and Irina Sedakova.

The meeting was moderated by Irina Stahl, our Secretary, and Mare Kõiva.

Ritual Year Winter 2020 Seasonal Webinar, special Christmas edition (23 December 2020)

Our second e-meeting was a special Christmas event during which five speakers from all over the world (Marlene Hugoson, Maria Bernadette L. Abrera, Anamaria Iuga, Lucy M.Long and Laurent Fournier), tempted us with the taste of their knowledge regarding various Christmas dishes and deserts.

The meeting was moderated by Irina Sedakova, our Chair, and Mare Kõiva.

Ritual Year Autumn 2020 Seasonal Webinar (15 October 2020)

The first e-meeting was opened by our WG’s Founder and Honorary Chair, Emily Lyle. Her speech was followed by one given by Mare Kõiva, the e-Host, and Laurent S. Fournier, the WG’s Co-Chair.

The meeting was moderated by Irina Sedakova, our Chair, and Mare Kõiva.