The Irbit fair for three centuries was the second in its significance and scope in Russia, second only to the Nizhny Novgorod one. The first mention of it refers to the 30s of the seventeenth century. Since then, it has been held annually until 1929. The revival of the traditional fair took place in 2003. Now it is held every year at the end of August.
Irbit fair: history and modernity
Officially, it is believed that the first fair festivities on the Irbit River were held in 1643. Twelve years earlier, Irbitskaya Sloboda appeared at the confluence of two rivers. 31 peasant families lived in a small settlement. Due to its favorable location on the most important trade route, the settlement grew rapidly, and a small local market became the largest trading platform.
Babinovsky tract, on which the Irbit fair was located, was the most important state artery connecting the European part of the country with Siberia. Goldminefor local merchants and overseas merchants who flocked in large numbers to the more unremarkable settlement.
In those days, only here you could buy the most valuable Siberian furs, the finest Chinese silk and tea, skins of specially tanned lambs from Central Asia. Moscow merchants brought jewelry and manufactory products, metals were brought from the Urals.
In different periods, fair festivities lasted from two weeks to one and a half months. Usually the time of their holding fell on the autumn-winter months. Today the fair goes on for only four days and has been postponed to the last days of August.
On the Great Tea Road
First of all, the Irbit Fair was famous as a place where Siberian furs were bought and sold, an expensive commodity highly valued in Europe. However, in the darkness of history, another interesting fact is lost: it was here on Irbit that the first monopoly on the tea trade was formed in the eighteenth century.
The "Great Tea Road", which passed along the Babinovsky tract, made the fair in a small town a monopoly in the distribution and pricing of Chinese "liquid gold".
Traditional fair arrangement
The Irbit fair has demonstrated miracles of high self-organization since the beginning of its foundation. At the general council, the merchants elected representatives, each from his own group or branch. Then the fair committee was formed by the commissioners and its chairman was appointed. The Committee was charged not only with the solution of organizational and financial issues,but also maintaining order, as well as settling controversial issues both between the merchants themselves and between them and the buyers.
Over time, the fair grew so much that not only independent merchants, but also large government organizations, banks, transport, trading houses took part in it.
By the nineteenth century, the Irbit Fair grew into a center for the international fur trade, and it itself began to look more like a commodity exchange than a classic fair bazaar.
Time adjustments
Today, the city's brightest event has a completely different program. The Irbit fair has long lost its importance as the most important shopping center connecting the two parts of the world. Its revival is rather a tribute to tradition, a memory of the history of the city. Today, a bright colorful event is more aimed at attracting tourists.
As before, industrial goods are actively traded here. However, the main focus is still on the demonstration of traditional crafts and the sale of handicrafts.
Revived fairy tale
An integral part of fair trade has long been the sale of folk arts and crafts. The products of the masters of the Urals were famous throughout Russia. We all remember the fairy tales of Pavel Petrovich Bazhov, in which he describes the art of the Ural stone cutters. Products made of malachite and mountain gems, processed by the precise hand of a "mountain master", were valued by foreign traders on a par with Siberian furs and Chinese tea.
They say that the fabulous Danila-masterreally existed. It is believed that the legendary Ural prospector Danila Zverev served as its prototype.
Irbit fair: city of craftsmen and other entertainments
Bone and stone carving, filigree casting, artistic painting on metal, products of Ural lacemakers and jewelers glorified the Irbit fair no less than furs and overseas goods.
Today, like a hundred years ago, Irbit can boast of the skill of the Ural artisans and artists. The program of the Irbit Fair every year provides for master classes with the demonstration and sale of items of folk arts and crafts. The city of craftsmen is not only an exhibition area where souvenirs are bought and sold. By visiting it, you plunge into the unique atmosphere of the art and craft workshops of the old Urals.
Here everyone can try themselves in the role of a "mining master", feel the beauty of working with stone, look into the forge, paint a heavy tray with their own hands and make a basket of birch bark with their own hands. The traditional outfits of the inhabitants of the Urals will not leave anyone indifferent, and the opportunity to try them on will help you fully immerse yourself in the atmosphere of the holiday.
Why go to Irbit
Of course, the main event in the life of the city is the Irbit Fair. Reviews about it are mostly positive, although, of course, it does not do without overlays and inconveniences. Someone does not like crowds of tourists, someone queues forfavorite goods and souvenirs, but in general, the impressions of the fair remain the most optimistic.
One day is hardly enough to see everything that is planned, and a rich program will not let you get bored even during the four days of the fair.
Besides, there are other attractions in Irbit, the history of which is also inextricably linked with the most important action for the city. If you enjoyed the fair to the full, you should look into the Irbit Historical and Ethnographic Museum. One of the largest collections in Russia boasts the rarest exhibits. The permanent exhibition is dedicated to the history of the Irbit Fair.
Lovers of old houses "with history" will appreciate the building of the Passage. “Being at the fair and not visiting the Passage is the same as being in Rome and not seeing the pope,” an expression from the Irbit Fair List of the century before last spoke eloquently about its significance for the city. The huge building, erected in the nineteenth century, was the center of the life of the Irbit Fair. The area in front of it with stone trading rows was not inferior in beauty and scope to the largest Kostroma Market in Russia. Alas, now in their place is a wasteland. Today, the building of the Passage is used for its intended purpose: trade is lively in it, although, of course, without its former scope and luxury.
