Sled races are a highlight of Salekhard’s Reindeer Breeder Day celebrations

The holiday marks the beginning of Spring.

Residents of Salekhard in West Siberia celebrated Reindeer Breeder Day, a major holiday of the region’s Indigenous peoples, on the nearby Polyabta River on Saturday, March 27.

The holiday, which is also sometimes called Sun Day or Reindeer Day, usually marks the spring equinox and the end of the polar night. The main event of the Reindeer Breeder Day celebrations is a reindeer sled race with dozens of contestants. Other events include a stick pulling contest and a competition to throw a lariat onto a 3-meter-long stick.

Salekhard, the capital city of Russia’s Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area, lies astride the Arctic Circle.

(Production by Alexander Ryumin / TASS via Reuters Connect)