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Sabantuy is a Tatars, , Bashkirs and Kazakhs ('Sabantoy') summer festival, that dates back to the epoch. At first Sabantuy was a festival of in rural areas, but it later became a Public holiday and now is widely celebrated in the city. In 2012, Kazan Sabantuy was celebrated on June 23.
Other Turkic peoples living along the Volga also celebrate the holiday. Bashkir language-speakers call it Habantuy (Һабантуй), Chuvash language-speakers — Akatuy (Акатуй).
The holiday's name means "plough's Festival" in Turkic languages. The synonym "plough's holiday", or Saban bäyräme (Сабан бәйрәме ) also occurs.
Later, with the spread of Islam among Tatars and Bashkirs and Christianity among Chuvash people, it became a secular holiday. In each region, took turns to celebrate the holiday.
In the beginning of the 20th century Sabantuy gained recognition as the national festival of the Tatars. The Soviet Union authorities approved of this festival probably due to its humble rural origin. However, they moved Sabantuy to the after-sowing season, thus merging it with the ancient summer festival Cıyın (Cyrillic: Җыен, ).
Recently, Moscow announced plans to nominate Sabantuy for the inclusion into the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity list in 2007.
In the United States, Sabantuy, the Tatar national holiday, has received official recognition at the state and local levels. On June 6, 2025, Bob Ferguson, Governor of Washington State, issued a proclamation celebrating Sabantuy. This was followed on June 8, 2025, by a similar proclamation from the City of Kirkland in Washington State, further highlighting the growing cultural recognition of the Tatar community and their traditions within the USA.
A tradition, called sörän,Сөрән; was held to collect a fare for guests of the festival and prizes for the winners of the contests. Qarğa botqası (Rook's porridge),Карга боткасы, a ritual porridge, was cooked before the Sabantuy to treat children in the village. Another tradition was praying at the cemetery.
In the recent years Sabantuy is also often combined with the folk and pop music festivals, as well as accordion music festivals, named Play, accordion! ( Uyna, ğarmun!).
Usually young boys start the competition. At the end of Sabantuy, the main event of the festival is the final of köräş. The winner becomes the batır,, also батыр batyr, паттӑр pattăr the hero of the Sabantuy. The prize varies from a Sheep in small villages to a car at big cities' celebrations.
In the last few years the Russian government arranged federal Sabantuylar in Moscow. Many cities in Europe and Asia that have major Tatar diasporas, such as Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Tallinn, Prague, Istanbul, Kyiv and Tashkent, also hold Sabantuylar.
Today Sabantuy can be characterized as an international festival attracting many people of various ethnicities who participate in Sabantuylar, both in Tatarstan, and all over the world.
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