Journey into the Christmas musical forest. New Year's quest and master classes
Small tents for the festival with twinkling garlands, Christmas trees and beautiful toys will be open throughout the city area. Those who love winter activities will have the opportunity to ride down a huge ice slide and take basic figure skating lessons. All lovers of sweets will be able to try real Russian dessert dishes and interesting foreign sweet dishes. And book lovers will truly enjoy visiting the grand fair.
The Russian capital will again be immersed in the holiday atmosphere, it is called “Journey to Christmas.” The end of the current year will be marked by interesting events that will be held from mid-December to mid-January at more than 30 venues. The festival program includes street concerts, performances by actors and master classes.
The scenes will be decorated with beautiful garlands, living coniferous beauties, and huge balls with a glow effect. Until February 19 inclusive, a festival called “Christmas Light” will be held, during which the most famous Russian, French and Italian painters will present large light installations in the center of the capital. Glowing huge balls can be seen on Poklonnaya Hill and at the All-Russian Exhibition Center. A “Musical Forest” will appear on Pushkinskaya Square; it is an LED panel, and the pixels represent notes. They are synchronized with the music, so the result is that the light can sing.
Last year this festival Journey to Christmas 2017 recognized as the largest in all of Europe: it was open to 10 million customers. This year the festival will be visited by 12 million people.
Ice skating rink, rides and a huge slide
6 sites will be interesting to visit because they will have carousels. At the intersection of Revolution Square and Manezhnaya Square they will build a huge slide (7 x 100 meters). It will have to be collected using blocks made of icy snow. She will also have an ice watch on her. In addition to skating, children will be able to play in the fresh frosty air.
An ice skating rink will open on Revolution Square; you can skate on it without paying for entertainment. Spectators will be able to watch productions of “The Nutcracker,” “Swan Lake,” “Chipolino,” and “Snow White.” There will be performances by 50 famous figure skating professionals. On January 7, skating will take place dedicated to the bright sign of the Nativity of Christ; athletes of the Russian national team - Olympic and world champions - will participate in them.
One of the festival scenes Travel to Christmas in Moscow 2016-2017 will be located next to GUM. The skating rink, opened on Red Square, will host events dedicated to winter sports and holidays of the peoples of Russia, as well as theatrical performances. There will be a photo session with the participation of Grandfather Frost and the Snow Maiden, and you will even be able to wish for everything you have long dreamed of. And the holiday atmosphere will be supported by folklore teams.
Sweet Christmas tree and designer art objects
In the festival areas Travel to Christmas 2017 in Moscow There are 200 tents, they will sell all sorts of things. On sale there are toys from the 50-60s of the 20th century, they are hung on the Christmas tree, decorations made of porcelain and glass, they are filled with dried flowers, tablecloths with lace and napkins, wooden souvenirs with the author’s painting, felt boots, knitted sweaters, mittens and scarves made from real sheep wool, chocolate in the form of figures, gingerbread houses, apples in caramel glaze. On Kuznetsky Most you can purchase items created by popular fashion designers and newcomers.
Goods for the festival will be delivered from Tver, Astrakhan, Ryazan, Orenburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Vladimir, Tula, Ivanovo regions, the Republic of North Ossetia, the Republic of Karelia, and the Krasnodar Territory. Products from other countries will be available for sale (Belgium, Italy, Latvia, Czech Republic, Greece, Serbia, Armenia, China, Mexico, Peru, Morocco).
They will also open a grand cheese market on the territory of Manezhnaya Square, where cheeses from 60 manufacturing companies will be collected. They will sell cheese that is very similar to cheese from Switzerland, cheese balls with cranberry jam, bruschetta with cheeses, pies filled with cheeses, ricotta with blueberry jelly, cheese with chocolate, cheesecakes and a large number of types of punch. and mulled wine.
By the beginning of the festival events, chefs from 60 cafes will develop a menu with dishes suitable for the holiday. Famous chefs will teach everyone how to prepare dishes for the winter holidays: sweet Christmas tree and mulled wine without alcohol, the famous Olivier and kulebyaka with apples, sbiten based on honey and spices (they can warm you up) and compote with dried fruits (apples, cherries, pears, hawthorn , apricots). Those with a sweet tooth will receive recipes for sweets for the winter holidays, which are popular in southern countries, for example, sweet pancakes made from corn, raisins and cinnamon, hot chocolate with hot chili peppers, fried bananas with cream and caramel sauce.
Games and master classes
Young children and adults will be able to attend 3 thousand master classes, educational events and entertainment events of the festival Journey to Christmas 2016-2017. At culinary master classes, children, their mothers and fathers can learn how to prepare dishes according to recipes from their favorite fairy tales and cartoons, for example, cheesecake from the housekeeper from the cartoon about Carlson and the Kid, cookies with small pieces of chocolate or semolina porridge with fruits from fairy tales "The Fox and the Crane". On the territory of Kuzminkok you can find out the secrets of making real fruit pizza, tea latte with spicy spices from Ireland, a drink from Scandinavia, which is prepared for Christmas from currants and juice of grapes, almonds, oranges and raisins.
You can visit a disco, as well as events (related to sports) based on the cartoon “Winter in Prostokvashino” and dance classes that will take place on Kosygina Street. At Sheremetyevskaya, everyone will be taught carols, as well as how to play ancient musical instruments. A huge exhibition and sale of books will open on Novy Arbat, free courses at the school of writers will be opened here, you will be able to listen to reports, watch master classes, meet authors and attend the presentation of new books. Interesting lessons in foreign languages and creating robots will be held in Novopushkinsky Square.
There will be games called "Happy Time". Players will be able to conduct competitions on their knowledge of the customs of celebrating the New Year and Christmas. By completing difficult tasks from a grandfather named Tik-Tak and his granddaughter Minutka, you can receive gold coins, which will be needed to exchange them for prizes, of which 50 thousand were produced for participants in festival events.
Every year, Moscow is transformed before the New Year - the central squares are filled with New Year's paraphernalia, Christmas markets and other entertainment appear. This year, the annual Journey to Christmas festival will last from December 16 to January 19, 2017. We decided to walk through the main sites on the opening day and note the most interesting ones. We share our feedback without delay.
If earlier we looked with interest at photographs of European Christmas markets and dreamed of seeing it with our own eyes, now Muscovites and guests of the city do not need to go anywhere, because every year in Moscow there are many New Year's fairs, sites with giant New Year's decorations and installations, and how many winter entertainment! Winter 2017 was no exception, the Journey to Christmas festival, parks, shopping centers and skating rinks prepared so many surprises that choosing what to see in New Year's Moscow, where to take a walk, where to have a photo shoot, where to go with children is not easy. We selected the most interesting places and events of New Year's Moscow, went out into the street with a camera and prepared for you a guide to the New Year's center of the capital.
Perhaps the most anticipated New Year's surprises are these.
1. Designer Christmas trees: Kuznetsky Most street, property 6-3 (near the Bolshoi restaurant)
2. 3D Christmas tree decorations and magical animation on Pushkinskaya Square
3. Tverskoy Boulevard: light tunnel on
4. Hundred-meter ice slide: Revolution Square (transition to Manezhnaya Square)
5. Ice skating rink and Christmas market on Red Square
6. Magic Theater on Revolution Square: free ice shows
7. Fairs
8. Christmas tree-carousel, 160-meter light tunnel and starry sky at VDNH
The long-awaited illumination in Moscow was lit on Friday evening, December 16. We, having forgotten about the frost, set off on a journey through the center of Moscow. In order to spend the time most efficiently, we first drew up a route: we decided to start from the Teatralnaya metro station (from the Bolshoi Theater), then walk to the Central Department Store, walk along Stoleshnikov to the fair, which is located opposite the Moscow City Hall. From there we planned to walk to Pushkin Square. Well, it was decided to end our first New Year's walk on Revolution Square. Although it is best to start the journey with the latter - but first things first.
New Year's Bolshoi Theater
At about 19-30 we met near the Teatralnaya metro station and went to the big theater. The first thing we saw was a light composition similar to the crown from the Nutcracker performance. Imagine our surprise that the Bolshoi Theater did not have any fair this year, but in previous years there was. Well, let's move on.
View from the Bolshoi Theater.
The Central Department Store (TSUM) shimmers like a precious diamond before the New Year.
As always, the TSUM windows are surprising - the fruit of the designers’ fevered imagination, but looking at them is very funny.
Fair on Kuznetsky Most
We quickly reached the first fair on our way - the fair on Kuznetsky Most. This year, the shape of the houses that housed the fair surprised me a little. Retail outlets are glass pavilions decorated with LEDs. Modern, but does not create a holiday feeling.
We went into one of these houses and bought mulled wine - the frost was seriously raging.
According to my companion, the most beautiful Christmas trees in Moscow are located near the Cartier store on Kuznetsky Most. I think I agree.
The Petrovsky Passage shopping complex is very beautifully decorated - we also dropped in there to warm up - silence, beauty, no one.
Next we went to Stoleshnikov Lane towards the City Hall. Almost all pedestrian streets are decorated in the same way - with the ubiquitous LED trees. It’s beautiful, but since they stand in Moscow all year round, they didn’t cause us much surprise.
There were indeed such interesting compositions - a symbol of the holiday. Either a watch or a carriage.
Fair near the monument to Yuri Dolgoruky (Moscow City Hall)
Near the City Hall there was a fair, oriented to be shown on television - everything was very beautiful, in a European way.
Along the perimeter of the square there are retail outlets where you can buy Christmas goods from different European countries.
Next, we go out onto Tverskaya Street. The main feature of Tverskaya is the special design of the lighting poles - if you look closely, you can recognize glasses of champagne in these lights.
In short dashes we reached Pushkinskaya Square. It’s impossible to get lost here: near the monument to Pushkin there is a composition called the Musical Forest, and on Tersky Boulevard there is a light tunnel. What to do? We decided to look at everything in order and started with the fun, oh, musical forest.
Musical forest on Pushkinskaya Square
Every 10 minutes music sounds and this entire white composition is filled with different bright colors. The spectacle is very beautiful! In addition, you can penetrate into the very heart of this composition.
In the center there is a kind of fabulous white tree, decorated with balls and icicles. There are so many people that it is very difficult to even take a photo. Everyone wants to plunge into a fairy tale!
On Pushkinskaya Square there are also glass pavilions where they sell balls, Christmas trees and all sorts of New Year's rubbish.
Having pretty much frozen by this point, we decided to go to the famous self-service restaurant with the letter “M” on Pushkinskaya Square to warm up. I was a little surprised that at all these fairs there were practically no places to eat. And I really wanted to eat a hot sausage in the cold!
Light tunnel on Tverskoy Boulevard
The main attraction of Tverskoy Boulevard is, of course, the light tunnel, which this year was moved closer to the people, closer to the metro.
We walked right through the tunnel and expected to see fairground houses, but we saw only one, and in it... a guard lives. A little further along Tverskoy Boulevard we spotted an ice town, apparently intended for snowball fights.
The second part of Tverskoy Boulevard seemed somewhat dark and uncomfortable to us - so we decided to turn around and finally head towards Okhotny Ryad and Manezhnaya Square.
On Tverskaya Street, in addition to the above-mentioned “glasses of champagne,” opposite Kamergersky Lane, one can note a chess composition, where the royal throne is located in the center.
We stayed here a little to admire Kamergersky Lane.
Okhotny Ryad is ready for the New Year
The end of the evening - and we are just approaching the “Heart” of the Christmas festivities. On Okhotny Ryad we see a New Year's carousel and numerous glass box stalls. By 10 o'clock they were all already closed.
Traditional carousel.
Large postcards based on Soviet motifs.
Opposite the Historical Museum is an unusual ice town.
After visiting the fair on Okhotny Ryad, we head to Revolution Square.
Revolution Square before Christmas
The Ice Theater is located not far from the metro. He looks quite impressive and beautiful from all sides. To get to the show here, you need to carefully study the program. I even wondered how it would accommodate everyone? Ice ballet starts at 19-00.
To finish off our visit to the first day of the festival with dignity, we decided to look at Nikolskaya Street. Nikolskaya is decorated in the same way as last year - with Italian LED arches.
This is how our almost four-hour walk around New Year's Moscow flew by unnoticed.
So, the most interesting platforms in my opinion are:
1. Ice theater on Revolution Square
2. Ice slide on Revolution Square
3. Musical forest on Pushkinskaya Square
4. Light tunnel on Tverskoy Boulevard
In general, when walking around Moscow before the New Year, you get a strong feeling that you have already seen all this last year. Glass pavilion houses are probably more comfortable for sellers, but they do not create a New Year’s mood.
Traditional light tunnel on Tverskoy Boulevard. This year it was located at the very beginning of the boulevard, next to the metro. It is so long that you can’t even see the end of it! There's plenty of room for photos for everyone. #Tverskoy Boulevard #travelChristmas #Christmaslight #MoscowNewyear #newyear2017 #newyear2017 #earlyyear #merrychristmas #travelofRussia
Posted by Nina and Natasha, travelers (@shagauru) Dec 17, 2016 at 2:11 PST
Addresses of Christmas markets in the center:
1. European Christmas market on Tverskaya Square
2. Manezhnaya Square, possession 1
3. Pushkinskaya Square5. Novopushkinsky Square - gingerbread, pastries, kurabye
6. Sweet Christmas trees and mulled wine: Arbat Street, building 19
7. Handmade decorative items on Kutuzovsky Prospekt
8. Tea and coffee traditions on Stoleshnikov Lane
9. New Year's toys and masks at Rozhdestvenka
10. New Year's book fair "Book-Market" on Novy Arbat
11. Square in front of Sokolniki Park
12. There will be a Sweet Fair on Leningradsky Prospekt, 62
13. Fair near the Raikin Plaza shopping center on Sheremetyevskaya street
14. VDNHAll this is my subjective opinion, but otherwise everything is fine, happy upcoming everyone!
The next post will be about the festival sites on Novy Arbat.
A Magical Journey to Christmas awaits Muscovites again on the New Year holidays: on Christmas and New Year 2016, the capital will once again host the “Journey to Christmas” festival - this time the colorful holiday will turn Moscow into a fabulous ocean with “dream islands” - fairs.
This year the festival will be several days shorter than, but will cover a larger number of venues: at 38 festival venues located in different districts of the capital (mainly in the center), visitors will see unusual art objects, exciting street shows and concerts, and will be able to attend participate in cooking and decorating master classes, as well as buy delicious food and souvenirs. In addition, Muscovites can expect exciting quests and competitions, the winners of which will receive a reward: special Christmas coins that can be exchanged for gifts.
The festival sites will become dream islands in a fabulous ocean. This year, the organizers have prepared 3 thematic routes along which you can travel to Christmas: the Main Christmas Route, the Main Art Route and the Main Children's Route.
. Main Christmas route will pass through Manezhnaya Square And Revolution Square, where 5 islands will be located: the Island where dreams come true, the Island of winter fun, the Island of the enchanted forest, the Island of the magic ball and the Island of science - the city of geniuses.
Here you will be able to ride down the largest ice slide in Russia: the slide, 7 meters high and 100 meters long, will be built using ancient technology used in the construction of “skating slides”. An ice skating rink is also waiting for lovers of winter fun - during the day it will operate completely free of charge, and in the evening it will become the stage for the ice ballet “Swan Lake” staged by Pyotr Chernyshev.
The main highlight of the route will be the historical labyrinth in the form of a map of Russia, which will be erected on Manezhnaya Square. In the center of the labyrinth there is a 17-meter natural spruce and huge garlands.
. Main Children's route will pass through Stoleshnikov Lane And Tverskaya Square, where the Christmas Gnome Labyrinth, the Alley of Christmas Tales and the Christmas Children's Town will be located.
Here for children there are master classes on sewing dolls and making candy, children's animation, carousel rides and a “magic house” with gifts.
. Main Art Route will pass through Pushkinskaya Square And Novopushkinsky Square, and also Tverskoy Boulevard: it will house the Magic Island, Royal Square, the City of Little Storytellers and a number of other sites.
On Pushkin Square An ice skating rink and a figure skating school will open; in addition, here Muscovites will be taught the basics of hockey, snowboarding and curling.
The highlight of the route will be a large number of art objects created specifically for the Journey to Christmas festival: the 4-meter installation “Magic Forest”, the 2-meter “Queens of the Looking Glass”, the 1.5-meter “Cakes” and many others.
Venues not included in the 3 main routes will also delight Muscovites with the variety of leisure activities offered: Red Square, Nikolskaya Street, Bolshaya Dmitrovka, Kuznetsky Most, Trubnaya Square and other squares and streets of the capital, as well as on VDNH Visitors will be treated to an equally large number of master classes, games and unusual art objects.
This year the festival has living symbols - the fabulous creatures of Fjoki, residents of the snowy New Year's islands. Meeting Fjok on a Moscow street is good luck!
Familiarize yourself with the program and content of all holiday venues in more detail. festival "Journey to Christmas" You can familiarize yourself with announcements of events and see their detailed schedule on the official website of the festival: