The First Orenburg Ball Was Held "Under the Sign" of the Orenburg Down Shawl

On 14 December, the First Orenburg Ball was held at the Krupskaya city library with a special dress code: guests were especially welcome in Orenburg down shawls, warm shawls and beautiful openwork gossamer shawls.

The shawl as the leitmotif of the evening

The main craft of the Orenburg region became the leitmotif of the whole evening. The city's poets and folk art ensembles read poems, sang songs and performed numbers, most of which were devoted to the Orenburg shawl. The guest of honour was Leilya Vakhitovna Gubaidullina – a knitter known to everyone in the region connected with the down-knitting craft.

Nikolai Andreevich Zakharov, head of the Shalnoy Orenburg company, also spoke at the ball. He expressed gratitude and respect to Leilya Vakhitovna for her work and spoke about our organisation's plans for developing the craft.

At the end of the formal part, everyone could get a master class in knitting Orenburg shawls from Leilya Vakhitovna, and then take part in the ball itself.

Not just a celebration

The First Ball cannot be called mere entertainment. At this unusual creative meeting, important issues were actively discussed: the prospects of Orenburg down knitting and one of the most pressing topics – how to involve the younger generation in the craft and increase interest in Orenburg shawls.

The importance of such meetings is hard to overestimate: they bring together people from the most diverse spheres of culture and creativity who care about the fate of the region's main folk craft. We thank the organisers, all the speakers and the guests, who took the format of the meeting, its goals and even the dress code with all seriousness: most guests followed the organisers' wish and came in Orenburg down items.