what are your favorite kazakh traditions? any events you look forward to every year?
Probably Körısu which is on 14th of March.
It is a celebration of the start of spring only in Western Kazakhstan, which you do by just going around your family(extended) and acquaintances and greeting them and just being happy about the start of the spring.
I do not exactly know why there is Körısu AND Nauryz, but it could be because Western Kazakhstan has a much softer climate compared to Northern or Western Kazakhstan. Could also be because of influences from other nations centuries ago. Or something different.
Also Körısu was kinda about visiting other auyls(nomadic settlements), to check on how they weathered through the winter.
It is not an official holiday, but it is just a nice thing only my region has.
My other favourite tradition probably comes from a saying "нағыз қазақ - қазақ емес, нағыз қазақ - домбыра" which translates to literally "a real kazakh is not a kazakh, a real kazakh is dombra" which implies that all real Kazakhs know how to play on dombra. I am not sure if it has historical grounds, but that love for dombra and a desire to secure the future of the art, led to an entire set of schools having free dombra lessons.
