Pärtel Day in Estonia (24/08)

One of more than a hundred holidays on the Estonian national calendar is Pärtel Day (est. Pärtlipäev) — is an early autumn holiday known since the 18th century. Almost all holidays of the Estonian folk calendar are associated with weather forecasts, agriculture and cattle breeding — are the main activities of the ancient Estonians.

Pärtel Day — is no exception. According to signs, it turned out that autumn comes into its own just on Pärtel Day. On this day, the water in lakes and rivers became cold — they said that «Pärtel throws cold stone into the water». This natural phenomenon is akin to Ilyin’s Day (August 2), celebrated by the Slavs, when the reservoirs cool down and the swimming season ends.

By Pärtel Day, they were finishing reaping rye, after which they had to collect potatoes and continue harvesting spring crops. From about this day they began washing and trimming sheep. It was believed that a sheep cut on Pärtel's day would produce long hair.

We started brewing — beer and used hops to prepare it. It was said that the hops harvested on Pärtel's day should have been particularly good because Pärtel gives the hops their final bitterness.

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