A-Infos (en) Russia, Avtonom: How the 10th anniversary of the "Father Frost against Putin" festivals was celebrated in January (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

In January, the "Father Frost against Putin" festival was held in 
Helsinki for the tenth time. The first festival was organized in 2014, 
but festivals will be held in 2021 and 2022. were missed due to border 
closures due to Covid. ---- The format of the festival "Father Frost 
against Putin" was partially borrowed from the "Black Petrograd" 
festival, which was held in St. Petersburg in 2004-2013. We can say that 
it was not only the 10th anniversary, but also and 20th anniversary. But 
if "Black Petrograd" was an event of anarchists (with periodic speeches 
from human rights activists and leftists), then "Father Frost against 
Putin" unites all opponents of the Putin regime (except for supporters 
of left and right totalitarianism), and invites to general discussions, 
lectures and cultural programs.

This year, on Friday 12 January, the festival began with a concert at 
the Lepakkomies bar in the Kallio area. Kallio's glorious past as a 
bastion of the labor movement is now intertwined with subcultures, 
students and hipsters.

The concert featured alt-rock band Cave Moss, live drum and bass noise 
Grusenka, and bass guitarist of the legendary indie rock band 
22-Pistepirkko Asko Keränen. After midnight, DJ Lupu played Hi-NRG's 
'80s proto-techno set to a full dance floor. Unfortunately, Pavel 
Semchenko's performance was canceled due to illness.

Although the festival failed to attract a well-known headliner, the 
concert raised enough money to cover the expenses of all the festival's 
international speakers. This was critically important, since the 
festival did not have any grants.

On Saturday, January 13, the program began with presentations. The event 
took place at Oranssi, a social center with roots in the squatter 
movement of the early 90s in Helsinki. The first speaker was a 
representative of the "Conscious Objector Movement" with the topic "The 
Conscious Objector Movement: from a group of like-minded people to a 
large human rights organization." The recording of the report and 
discussion in Russian can be viewed on YouTube, as well as on SoundCloud 
and other podcast services. The report presented the most current 
options for anti-war activities. He was also of interest to the Finnish 
public, who were invited by the local organization of conscientious 
objectors Aseistakieltäytyjäliitto, created 50 years ago, in 1974.

Asko Keränen

Simultaneously with the performance, a zine-making workshop was held, 
led by activist and comic artist ennekeli_comix.

The next speaker was Evgenia Chirikova, a well-known eco-activist who 
was forced to move to Estonia a few years ago. Evgenia spoke about the 
media portal for activists "Activatika" and the current tasks of 
anti-war activism. The recording of the report and discussion in Russian 
can be viewed on YouTube and Soundcloud.

Next in the program was a discussion about the boycott of Putin's 
military machine. This time the recording was in English - 
unfortunately, this year there were not enough resources for two 
simultaneous recordings. English speakers can check out the discussion 
on YouTube and Spotify.

This was followed by a cultural program, at the beginning there was a 
performance "The Legend of the Phoenix. Conversations about light and 
peace." Natalia Nikulenkova prepared the performance based on 
correspondence between Igor Paskar and Ivan Atashin. The performance was 
a public protest against absurd political repressions that lead to the 
imprisonment of innocent people. He raised issues of human rights and 
political repression in Russia. This is a story about people who are 
capable of single-handedly resisting and fighting the government that 
commits crimes against humanity.

The play's main focus was on the similar experience of being imprisoned 
for a long time for a symbolic act of resistance to police rule. Both 
comrades threw Molotov cocktails at the building of the Federal Security 
Service, but 13 years apart. As a result, no one was hurt, but Igor and 
Ivan faced harsh warnings based on the article "terrorist act."

The Legend of the Phoenix. Conversations about light and peace

If you would like to hold this performance in your city to support the 
Solidarity Zone initiative, which provides support to those persecuted 
for anti-war actions, please send an email.

After the performance, a "Petrovsky screening" of the documentary film 
Moscow Mutiny took place, a benefit for the family of Dmitry Petrov, a 
Russian anarchist who died in the battle near Bakhmut in April 2023. The 
documentary about the protests in the winter and spring of 2012 quite 
honestly captures the spirit of anarchism and anti-fascism in Moscow at 
that time, with achievements, lost opportunities and absurdities. For 
those who lived through these times, watching it can provoke a strong 
nostalgic reaction!

The last day of the festival took place at Ulrika, a shared space 
between a local anarchist group and various leftist, environmental and 
cultural student communities at the University of Helsinki. The first 
discussion was on the topic "The Fifth Wave of Russian Emigration"; they 
discussed the prospects for emigration and social activities in it. The 
recording of the report and discussion in Russian can be viewed on 
YouTube and Soundcloud.

DJ Lupu

Afterwards there was a discussion and a lecture at the same time. 
Unfortunately, they could not record the discussion on the topic "The 
Future of Russia after Putin." A talk on "Ecofeminism and Vegan 
Abolitionism: The Philosophy and Practice of Understanding and 
Overcoming Oppression" was recorded. The recording can be found on 
YouTube and SoundCloud.

The radical Finnish animal rights movement has its roots in anarchism. 
However, over the past 10-15 years, these movements have actually become 
completely separate, and animal rights movements rarely intersect with 
other movements. The report attracted some local activists who would 
otherwise be unlikely to show up at the festival. With thousands of 
people attending Northern Europe's largest commercial vegan fair in 
Helsinki a couple of weeks later, the rise of veganism in Finland has 
not yet been matched by a corresponding rise in deep ideological and 
philosophical debate. Or the festival simply failed to properly promote 
itself among the wider vegan public.

This concluded the 2024 festival. What are the results?

About 60 people participated in the program on Saturday and Sunday. Even 
more took part in the concert and disco on Friday. This is a significant 
increase since 2023, but has not yet reached the level of 2020, a time 
before Covid, a full-scale war and border closures. But, despite all the 
difficulties, there is clearly a demand for the festival, and in some 
form it will continue.

See you in 2025!

https://avtonom.org/news/kak-prazdnovali-10-letie-festivali-ded-moroz-protiv-putina-v-yanvare
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