Humorina (russian: Юморина, translit=Yumorina, uk, Гуморина) is an annual festival of

humor Humour (Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids in ...

held in

Odesa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrati ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

, on and around the

April Fools' Day April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which may ...

since 1973. The festival is marked by a large parade in the city center, performances by musicians, comedians, clowns and a large number of fun-dressed people on the streets. These days April Fools' Days' pranks are spread by people and local mass media.

History

It was created in 1972 by the Odesa

KVN ''KVN'' (russian: КВН, an abbreviation of , ''Klub Vesyólykh i Nakhódchivykh'' or ''Ka-Ve-En'', "Club of the Funny and Inventive") is a Russian (and formerly Soviet) humour TV show and an international competition where teams (usually comp ...

team after the all- Union KVN contests and the corresponding

TV show A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed bet ...

were discontinued. Young members of the team in protest decided to come up with a special festival of laughter. The name arose by analogy with the Kinomarina (English: Filmarina) film festival taking place at that time, and so the name appeared – Humorina. Such a pun was characteristic of the satirical performances of comedians on the KVN TV show. The festival became so popular that more and more people gathered for it every year. Frightened by a huge, self-organizing crowd, the city authorities banned the celebration of Laughter Day. The name "Humorina" was proposed by Oleg Stashkevich – one of the founders and a member of the Odesa KVN team. The first slogan of Humorina was "Odesans of all countries – unite!", a paraphrase of the famous slogan of the

communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

: "Workers of the world – unite!"

Today

Today the Humorina includes a lot of city events celebrating April Fools' Day. In Soviet times, the main driving force of the festival was the Odesa KVN team. In the early 1990s, the World Club of Odesa and its president

Mikhail Zhvanetsky ) , birth_date = , birth_place = Odesa, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine) , death_date = , death_place = Moscow, Russia , genre = Satire , subject = , influences = , influe ...

initiated the return of the festival. Now this has changed and comic troupe the "Masks" have taken the baton. The "Masks" was a well known TV show in the 1990s. Later they organized their own theater, House of Clowns, which still continues in Odesa. Today these people are leaders and the main power of the festival and April Fools' Day humoristic events. The "Masks" organized a separate festival, Comediada, that starts four days before 1 April. Since 2010 with the celebration of April Fools' Day the International Festival of Clowns and Mimes has taken place in Odesa.

Facts

In 2019, Humorina festival was dedicated to the centenary of the

Odesa Film Studio Odesa Film Studio ( uk, Одеська кіностудія художніх фільмів) is the Ukrainian, formerly Soviet film studio in Odesa, one of the first in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. It is partially owned by a governm ...

. At traditional parade in the city center, one of the platforms presented the famous Soviet film

D'Artagnan and Three Musketeers ''D'Artagnan and Three Musketeers'' (russian: Д'Артаньян и три мушкетёра, ''D'Artanyan i tri mushketyora'') is a three-part swashbuckler musical miniseries produced in the Soviet Union and first aired in 1978. It is based o ...

Georgi Yungvald-Khilkevich Georgi Emilyevich Yungvald-Khilkevich (russian: Георгий Эмильевич Юнгвальд-Хилькевич; 22 October 1934 – 11 November 2015) was a Soviet and Russian film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, theatre direc ...

and showed original costumes from the movie. Since the first run for mayor of the city, a candidate from the

Internet party of Ukraine Internet Party of Ukraine ( uk, Інтернет Партія України) is a political party in Ukraine established in 2007 and registered in April 2010.

, the regular participants in the traditional city procession, became

Darth Vader Darth Vader is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. The character is the central antagonist of the original trilogy and, as Anakin Skywalker, is one of the main protagonists in the prequel trilogy. ''Star Wars'' creator George ...

and the imperial stormtroopers from the movie ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...

''.

References

External links

Humorina website

Esperanto-HumorinaComediada 2020
{{coord missing, Ukraine Culture of Odesa Russian humour Ukrainian humour Festivals in Ukraine April Fools' Day Entertainment in Ukraine Tourist attractions in Odesa Recurring events established in 1973 Spring (season) events in Ukraine