For the second time more than a thousand people gathered on 17 August 2003 in the historical village of Pogrankondushi on the annual Military-Historical Festival "Karelian Borders".

The place for the Festival was not chosen by chance. The village of Pogrankondushi is situated along the perspective international route "The Blue Highway" and possesses the rich war and historical heritage, connected with relations among Russia, Sweden and Finland within different periods of time. You can see boundary stones, indicating the frontier between Sweden and Russia in 1618 as well as the frontier between the USSR and Finland (1917-1940), the concrete defences (the end of the 1930-ties), the Memorial to the Soviet soldiers, fallen during the World War II.

The spectators became the witnesses of re-enacting of two battles: the Karelian and the Novgorodian warriors against the Swedish Vikings (XIII century); and the detachments of the Red Army against the Finnish Army (1941). These re-enactings were played by the members of the Amateur Military-Historical clubs from Petrozavodsk and St.Petersburg. More than 100 "soldiers" took part in the "battle".

The splendid knightly armour, original military uniform and weapon, fire-technical effects and impressive battle scenes made the historical interpretation look real.

The guests of the Festival could take part in the excursion "Pogrankondushi. The Historical Landmarks", organized by the specialists from the Pitkäranta museum, as well as visit the famous Varashev's Stone – the monument on the bank of the Ladoga Lake.

During the Festival there was a show of the medieval clothes and weapons as well as the women's nice clothing, the spectators were informed about the history of the clothing's creation. The stores of the Pitkäranta district participated in the contest of dishes of Russian, Karelian, Finnish and Swedish cooking. The Salmi village general stores became the winner in 3 nominations: "The best dish of Russian cooking", "The best dish of Karelian cooking" and "The best dish of Finnish cooking". The local folklore groups of the Pitkäranta district took part in the cultural programme of the Festival. The guests of the Festival were involved in all kinds of entertaining contests and competitions.

The Military-Historical Festival "Karelian Borders. Pogrankondushi" was held in the frame of the net social and cultural project "Border. Relations among Russia, Sweden and Finland in Karelian Priladozhiye". The project wasinitiated by the State Centre for the Protection and Managing of Monuments of History and Culture, MK RK and the Local administration of the Pitkäranta city and the Pitkäranta district. The aim of the project is to involve the Priladozhiye military-historical objects into the social, economical and cultural activity.

Press-office of the State Centre for Protection and Managing
of Monuments of History and Culture of the Ministry of Culture,
the Republic of Karelia