The March book festival has been canceled in Kaliningrad.
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In Kaliningrad, the book festival “March”, which was going to be held by the publishing houses “Polyandriya” and NoAge, has been cancelled. The organizers reported that the owners of the venues refused to rent “due to the occurrence of force majeure circumstances.” Before this, the festival was accused of intending to show an “immoral” film and selling books “from those countries that supply the murder weapons of our guys to Ukraine.”
The March festival was supposed to take place in Kaliningrad from March 8 to 10 at several venues. Publishing houses “Polyandria” and NoAge promised “meetings with authors, presentations, book clubs, lively discussions and intimate conversations about literature and creativity, master classes for children and teenagers, performances and readings, film screenings and exhibitions, as well as a concert.” The organizers’ message said: “We decided that now, when everyone is trying to close themselves in their shell, when it’s scary to start something new and speak frankly, yes, now is the time to talk about everything in the world with smart, young and ready to live life to the fullest writers , journalists, translators, bloggers, artists and musicians. We are all scared, but March always comes after February.”
However, “March” never came in Kaliningrad. On March 2, the organizers announced the cancellation of the festival on social networks: “This decision came to us on March 1 by administrative order and absolutely without appeal. Looking for an answer to the question “Why?” and we will not comprehend modern reality.” Attached to the message was a letter from the owner of one of the venues where the festival was to take place. It reported that the lease agreement was terminated “due to the occurrence of force majeure.”
General Director of the Polyandria publishing house Oleg Filippov said that “even a week before the start of the festival, all events were expected to be sold out, and this is more than 4 thousand people.” “We really wanted to meet you, we prepared an incredible, varied and interesting program that brought so much light, kindness, tenderness,” he addressed those who wanted to visit “March.” “We put a lot of soul, love into this festival, strength, energy, and now it’s very painful and offensive. Times like these.” “I’m not surprised by anything. I’m just very upset that so many people wanted to meet and just talk about books,” said Darina Yakunina, editor-in-chief of the Polyandria and NoAge publishing houses. “So many children wanted to read aloud and make crafts with their parents. Two performances were ready for premiere and much more. It’s hard to understand who found this dangerous.”
The regional Ministry of Culture and Tourism told reporters that the department has no information about the reasons for the cancellation of March. “The festival is a private initiative. It was also planned to hold it at private venues. We did not cancel anything, since we were not involved in organizing the event,” the officials explained. The regional publication “Rugrad,” meanwhile, draws attention to the fact that on February 17, the festival was discussed on social networks by the governor of the Kaliningrad region, Anton Alikhanov. In the comments, user Mikhail Kurshev asked the official to “study the program of the March festival,” indicating that the French film “Anatomy of a Fall” will be shown there. According to Mr. Kurshev, this film “promotes Elgebete”, and those who allowed it to be shown “are out of step with state policy.” Mr. Alikhanov responded to the comment: “Let’s get busy.” Kommersant sent a request to the governor’s press service, but received no response.
The head of the Kaliningrad space “Feminitiva” Daria Yakovleva considers the reason for the cancellation of the festival to be a “hater campaign” by Associate Professor of the Kaliningrad State Technical University, Candidate of Philosophical Sciences Natalya Mednis. For example, in one of the publications on social networks, Mrs. Mednis first reported the news about the death of a native of the region in the North Military District zone, and then expressed dissatisfaction with the cultural policy of the festival organizers: “A 26-year-old guy died so that we could lead a peaceful and “cultural” life here. And this “culture” is that we pay money to the citizens of those countries that supply the weapons to kill our guys to Ukraine. The book festival will now come to advertise authors from the Netherlands, England, Scandinavian countries, and French cinema.” After reports of the festival’s cancellation, Ms. Mednis wrote on social networks: “Congratulations to everyone involved. And my gratitude to the governor.”
The organizer of the Kaliningrad book club “The Club in Which,” Daria Koshkina, said that the “local team of organizers” had been working on the festival for several months. “From all sides we heard words of support and delight that such a cool event would take place in our city,” she wrote on social networks. “Kaliningrad is us, people who spend a huge amount of their emotional and physical resources on the development of local initiatives and maintaining life in beloved communities. And we will not stop doing this further.”
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