At School No. 50, the lively contest Come on, Grandmas was held, where five teams from different districts of Irkutsk competed in songs, dances, quizzes, fairy tales, and cooking ideas. The participants showed talent and humor, presented creative works and homemade dishes, and the team Babulki zelenulki won. The organizers hope this celebration will become a new city tradition and unite even more residents.

To sing, to dance, to show ingenuity, to compose a fairy tale — this is only a small part of the challenges the women had to go through in order to proudly bear the title of “the most charming and attractive,” “caring and cheerful.” On the stage of School No. 50, five teams met: “Baikal” from the Radishchev suburb, “Smile” from the Topkinsky neighborhood, “Daisies” from the Rabocheye suburb, “Maratovskie sudarushki,” and “Babulyki-zelenulki” from the Zeleny neighborhood. As is customary in a good competition show, the contestants had to undergo thorough preparation over several weeks — sew costumes, choose a song repertoire, and work on their vocals. As the participants themselves say, all this was done with pleasure, a positive attitude, and a desire to inspire not only the jury members but everyone in the audience with their creativity.
As part of the competition, an exhibition was organized where each team presented its creative works and unusual dishes of its own making.
“The idea of this competition is to develop good-neighborly relations among the residents of Marat, Radishchev, Rabocheye, Zeleny, and Topkinsky, and to encourage the older generation to lead an active lifestyle. In doing so, we recalled our youth, when we took part in beauty contests,” noted participant and chairwoman of the Radishchev territorial public self-government, Lyudmila Baranova.
After the scores for the first contest were announced, the main program began. Each team had to demonstrate its creative potential and rich life experience by performing dance numbers, songs, ditties, and poems in the “Hello, We’re Looking for Talents” contest. The participants composed fairy tales for their grandchildren, looked in the mirror while saying, “Oh, how beautiful I am,” and also shared tips on how to feed a family on 100 rubles, showing their unique abilities in the “Homemakers” contest.
The team captains were not left out either, answering quiz questions. While the jury was summing up the results, the participating teams performed their musical numbers out of competition.
The event ended with a ceremonial awards presentation for the participants. Based on the results of the contest, first place went to the “Babulyki-zelenulki” team, second place to “Baikal,” and third place to “Smile.” Winners were also named in five categories: “With a Song Through Life” - Petrovskaya S.S. (“Maratovskie sudarushki”), “Best Captain” - Kovrikova Yu.G. (“Smile”), “Grandma’s Secrets” - Dolmatova L.I. (“Babulyki-zelenulki”), “Caring Grandma’s Hands” - Shashkina M.A. (“Daisies”), “The Most Charming and Attractive” - Baranova L.A. (“Baikal”). The audience favorite prize was awarded to the “Babulyki-zelenulki” team.
“We have launched a new city holiday, ‘Come on, Grandmothers!’ This meeting is not an episode, but the beginning of our long journey, the beginning of a mass movement that will become a city tradition,” said Duma deputy Yury Korenev. “I hope that our initiative will be supported by other districts, whose representatives were present in the hall today. We will now hold such events more often, and I do not rule out organizing a ‘Come on, Grandfathers!’ contest, because such holidays make it possible not only to express oneself, but also to introduce people to one another and bring them together.”
Very soon, such contests will be held in the Kirovsky District, and the winners of the qualifying rounds will meet in the final of the district contest.
Based on materials from the press service of the Irkutsk City Duma