Slavic Weekend

The Slavic Weekend near Toulouse: how it worked

Until the end of October 2026, almost all our meetups happened around Montpellier. The Slavic Weekend was the community’s first trip to Toulouse: four meetups in a single weekend, each with its own sign-up in the chat and its own whip-round, from €10 to €35 a head. You could come for all three days or for just one evening. People drove in from different cities, and they were of all ages and many nationalities.

Friday 30 October: a Russian banya in Noé

The first evening started with the shopping: 20 kg of meat (beef, lamb and pork), plus fresh herbs and vegetables. The banya near Toulouse, in the commune of Noé, was ready ahead of time: the fires lit for the shashlik, the steam room well heated, two areas set up. The warm one by the entrance had the table, the samovar, the towels, dancing and karaoke; the other was the terrace outside, for cooling off and talking. The announcement offered 20 places, all gone before the night, and 26 people came.

Banya ceremonies with oak veniks were held for anyone who wanted one, and many went back more than once; after the steam room came a plunge into the big cold pool. An invited guest grilled the shashlik, with a 5 kg bowl of salad on the side. The banya’s hostess lit a real charcoal samovar and set it in the middle of the table. Six hours in, nobody wanted to leave: we only packed up when the banya closed, at around one in the morning. Everyone chipped in €35.

Saturday 31 October: Anti-Halloween with Slavic folk tales

The second evening began at 19:00 at a villa near Toulouse. Instead of pumpkins there were Baba Yaga, Koschei, forest spirits and water spirits: the villa was hung with cobwebs and sunflowers, and the photo spot was a “Slavic portal” inspired by Viy, a mirror under a black veil. The buffet had solyanka made with three kinds of meat and three kinds of sausage, herring under a fur coat, salo, pies and country-style potatoes.

With more than 30 people there, the villa was split into three areas: the table with the photo spot, dancing with karaoke, and the terrace for talking. There were the “Fairy Tales and a Little Bit of Viy” quizzes, a poker table, karaoke, the lambada and round dances, and to close the night, playful witch rituals: guests took candles out to the terrace to make wishes. The last of them left at about three in the morning. The whip-round was €15.

Sunday 1 November: crayfish by the lake, then Mafia

In the afternoon, from 14:00, we had a shared picnic by a lake near Toulouse, the sunniest of the three days. We caught a bucket of crayfish, though the hunt was a sport, done for the thrill. Everyone brought something for the table, the music and karaoke went on, and there was badminton. The children had the playground, while the grown-ups gathered chestnuts to bury a guest who had dozed off in a hammock.

In the evening the villa terrace hosted Mafia with Katerina: about 25 players and another 10 or so spectators. Between games the table was laid three times: salads with meat and cheese platters; then potatoes and meat baked in clay pots, and lamb ribs; and finally a dessert table with tea, macarons, éclairs and lemon cake. The arguments over who was a townsperson and who was mafia ran deep into the night, even with Monday on its way. It was €10 for the evening, and signing up was required.

Photos

Photos from all four meetups are on their own pages: the banya, Anti-Halloween, the crayfish picnic and Mafia. The story of the whole weekend is on the Slavic Weekend page.

How to join the next trip

We’ll announce the next trip in the chat, with the dates, the plan for each day and the whip-round for each meetup. You sign up for each meetup separately: this time the banya places were gone before the night, and Mafia was sign-up only. If you live in Toulouse and would like a weekend like this to happen again, say so in the chat.