Patronal Festivals of Vishera Komi and Village Days (Problem of Actualization of Folklore Heritage)
The paper describes communal festivals of Vishera komi tradition on the basis of field materials collected in three village settlements in the Kortkeros district of the Komi Republic at the beginning of 21st century. The study proves that during the Soviet period spiritual and orthodox content of patronal holidays was diluted and restricted to visiting and feasting traditions. The influence of process of re-opening churches and chapels that have been closed in decades past is also considered. We found that patronal holidays that were consolidating society in the early days went beyond the scope of work and leisure activities in the Soviet era, so they were replaced with governmental holidays like the Harvest Festival, the May Day, the Day of October Revolution, the 8th of March, the Agricultural Industry Workers' Day, and so on. We also analyze the role of cultural institutions in actualization of the cultural heritage while hosting Days of the Village - the holidays that have emerged in the last decades and overlap largely with communal holidays by dates and activities.