Best time of year to visit Moscow is either early autumn (September and October) or late spring (May and June) – in autumn the city is full of wonderfully colored leaves, while in spring the beautiful blossoming trees add that special 'something' to the famous parks of Moscow. The town gets especially decorated in May for May holidays and in September when the city of Moscow celebrates its day. New Year's Day also has a special atmosphere, with fireworks and thousands of citizens celebrating at the capital's squares, having fun and listening to some free concerts. Throughout the year it's possible to attend cultural festivals or some great exhibitions – Moscow never sleeps, especially when it comes to music, art, film and theater. Check out our calendar of events:
January is definitely the coldest month of the year in Moscow, but festivities held in January rise the temperature for few degrees. It starts with the New Year's Day and traditional celebrations of the first day of the year. Russians usually welcome the first day of the year at the Red Square, with lots of vodka, fireworks and the craziest atmosphere ever. Only five days later, on 6th January Russian celebrate the Orthodox Christmas or, as they call it, Rozhdestvo. Most of the services and offices in Moscow don't work in the first week of January. Moscow Winter Festival is usually held in the last week of December and the first week of January. Most of the events, such as folk music performances or troika rides, take place in Izmaylovo park, while traditional ice-sculpting usually takes place on Red Square or in front of the Pushkin Fine Arts Museum, with teams competing who will make a better sculpture. Snowman-building takes place on Arbat street, while real winter enthusiasts make holes in the ice of frozen Moscow river and swim in them.
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| Burning of the straw figure of Lady Maslenitsa symbolizes getting rid of everything bad from the past |
February is the month of Maslenitsa. Maslenitsa is a popular Russian holiday, also called the 'Pancake week' or 'Butter week'. Maslenitsa is usually celebrated one week before the start of Great Lent and during that period masquerades, sledding, snowball fighting and some traditional games take place at several locations in Moscow, such as Izmaylovo market and Red Square. Bliny (Russian pancakes) are traditional food of Maslenitsa and you can buy them at the street food stalls. Bliny represent the sun with their round shape and are therefore considered the symbol of coming spring. The highlight of Maslenitsa is the burning of a straw figure of Lady Maslenitsa in order to get rid of everything bad left from the past year. Throughout February Moscow is also a host of a Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, organized and sponsored by the Russian Ministry of Culture. The main idea of the project is to turn Moscow into an international center of modern art. Exhibitions of contemporary art are held at several locations around Moscow during the whole February. Central Lenin Museum usually hosts several exhibitions during that period, so take advantage of that to see the interior of this old building. Another interesting holiday is celebrated in February – the Defender of the Motherland Day, also known as the 'Men's Day' on 23rd February. Although not an official holiday, it is widely celebrated, honoring the soldiers and veterans of Russia.
Spring time in Moscow is marked with few holidays such as the International Women's Day, held on 8th March when men buy sweets and flowers to all women in their lives and people in the streets congratulate the Women's day even to unknown women. At the end of March and the beginning of April Moscow hosts the Golden Mask Festival, the festival of performing arts, including ballet and opera, operetta, musical theater, drama and puppet theater, with numerous performances leading to the culmination of the festival – the grand awards ceremony. Spring is also the time of the year when the most important holiday of the Orthodox Church is celebrated – Paskha (Easter). Easter is usually in April or in the beginning of May. 40 days before Easter are called the Great Lent or Veliky Post and after a long period of fasting, Russians prepare typical Easter specialties to celebrate the holiday, such as paskha (curd-cake) or kulichy cakes. During Easter time people traditionally give Easter eggs to each other, often made of wood and painted in different colors. Keep in mind that most of the museums, banks and offices don’t work on Easter Monday. Moscow Forum is another great event held in Moscow. This festival of contemporary music is held once a year since 1994, with great performances of avant-garde musicians from the whole Europe. Performances are usually held at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatorium. In May the festival season starts already on the 1st, with the International Workers Day or the May Day. May Day is usually celebrated with parades held at the Red Square. On 9th May Russians celebrate the Victory Day, with different events held at Victory Park and parades on Tverskaya ulitsa.
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| Defender day fireworks |
June is marked with two major events – the Interfest and Moscow Fashion Week. The major film event of the year, the Moscow International Film Festival (also known as Interfest), also takes place during summer and brings together filmmakers from Europe and the United States, along with the Russian film makers. During the festival, which usually lasts one week, movie projections are held in many theaters around Moscow, such as the Rolan Cinema and Illuzion. Moscow Fashion Week has recently become very popular and features fashion shows with more than 60 Russian and foreign designers. Russians also celebrate the Russia Day on 12th June, the day when Russian parliament declared the independence of Russia. In summer months Moscow is also the host of several outdoor music festivals, such as the Nashestviye or Krylya rock festivals held outside of the city center. Check the music section for details!
In autumn Moscow celebrates its day. Den goroda (City Day) celebration is usually held on the first weekend of September. Celebration includes a great parade, live music performances, fireworks, many food stalls in the streets and lots of fun. Every October Moscow is a host of the Kremlin Cup, the international tennis tournament held at Moscow’s Olympic Stadium close to the Renaissance Moscow Hotel. In the last couple of years mostly Russian players have won the tournament. In November Russians celebrate the Day of Reconciliation & Accord on the former October Revolution day, 7th November by protesting on Tverskaya ulitsa and in front of the former Central Lenin Museum. Mostly old and orthodox members of the Communist Party protest and wave their flags on that day.
In December Russians celebrate the Constitution Day. On 13th December 1993 Russia got the new constitution and the event is celebrated every year since then. More popular December event is the December Nights Festival of classical music, held in theaters, performance halls and museums from the middle of December to beginning of January.
