SAVE THE HISTORY! Tom Sawyer Fest: Saratov

Russian Federation Renovation Culture Construction Renovation Culture +1 Fixed dates

About the project

📝 Detailed information

🏢 About the local organisation

Tom Sawyer Fest got its name from a hero of Mark Twain's most famous book. The boy painted a fence so inspiredly that everyone around begged him to let them paint it too. That's the main idea of the festival - to inspire good changes in the city. The festival began in 2015 in Samara, now it has 27 participating cities. It brings together enthusiastic people in an effort to restore wooden buildings that lacked cultural heritage object status. Volunteers carefully take away old paint, clean the wood, replace shabby decorations and in the end give the house a new colour. That helps to make local people believe that with their own hands they can make the city more beautiful and nice to live in. All restoration activities are made by volunteers only with help from sponsors and fundraising.

💼 What the programme involves

Help with restoration of wooden buildings of the XIX-early XX centuries – cleaning of facades, priming, painting. Various skills could be obtained depending on the area of working: cleaning wood from the old paint, priming, painting, plastering, working with hand and power tools (grinder, angle grinders), painting. All works will be supervised by specialists. Working hours are in the evening, approximately from 4 to 9 p.m.

🏠 Accommodation on site

The group will be accommodated in a rented apartment or hostel. Cooking in teams, the budget for products is allocated.

📍 About the location

Saratov is large city on the South East of Russia, a major port on the Volga River. You can make a train journey from Moscow or take a flight. Working hand in hand with Russian volunteers is a great chance to get to know traditions, culture and learn a bit of Russian language (or improve your level!). Saratov is famous for its museums and parks, beaches on the bank of Volga and beautiful nature around: you will go hiking, visit the true Russian village and see amazingly beautiful rock of Stepan Razin.