A Fair That Has Been Held For More Than 300 Years Will Take Place In Zelva

Horses were brought there in whole herds.

The Grodno Region is preparing for a fair that dates back more than 300 years. The “Gannensky Kirmash” had been held in Zelva since 1721, but the tradition was later interrupted. It was revived only 25 years ago, reports the Republican Union of Tourism Organizations.

The main festivities will take place on Saturday, August 22. The event program includes an 18th-century-style costumed parade and large craft markets. The history of the Zelven Fair began with a privilege granted by King August II the Strong, who awarded it to Anton Kazimierz Sapieha on May 20, 1721. The fair was held annually from July 25 to August 25. The fair earned the name “St. Anne’s” because its opening coincided with the Feast of the Dormition of St. Anne according to the Orthodox calendar.

In its day, the Zelven Fair was considered by Belarusian merchants to be one of the largest fairs in the region—second in importance only to the Leipzig Fair. Merchants flocked here from Prussia and the Baltic states, from the territories of modern-day Ukraine and Russia, as well as from Austria, Italy, Denmark, and Sweden.

Cloth, leather, furs, Turkish tobacco, Chinese tea, Swiss cheese, Persian shawls, and cashmere fabrics were sold at the fair. But the main commodity was horses. They were brought to the fair in whole herds—from the Balkans and from the estates of the Sapieha, Patce, and Radziwill families.

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