Ekaterina Mamontova

Mosh. Folk Summer Fest

A return to the past, ‘to our roots’, answering the ‘call of our ancestors’ and reunification with nature are by no means a new form of escapism. In the modern technocratic world man increasingly feels he is superfluous. It is no surprise that he moves in the opposite direction, away from progress, in his attempt to overcome alienation and loneliness. One alternative movement is ‘neopaganism’, a subculture based on reconstructing pagan (primarily Slavic, German and Scandinavian) civilisations. Like any other subculture, neopaganism gives people a feeling of togetherness, of belonging to their ‘own’ group, yet also a sense of exclusivity founded on non-conformism and resistance to contemporary civilisation. Folk Summer Fest is an international festival that brings together advocates of neopaganism from all over Russia. Who are they, these new Vikings, bogatyrs and longhaired warriors? What is hidden behind their deliberate masculinity? I try to find the answers to these questions.