Colors of Saint Petersburg - traditions, festivals, mentality and lifestyle

The city of Saint Petersburg has been for many years the most in demand tourist destination of global scale. The Capital of Culture of the country attracts foreign guests with plenty of landmarks and sites, upscale restaurants of various trends and rich cultural life all the year round. One of the most favorite entertainments among tourists during Petersburg vacation is watching the drawing bridges being a unique and exciting spectacle. In order not to miss the show tourists are offered special leaflets giving information on a schedule of bridge drawing, however many tourists know this information by heart. The leaflets are commonly provided in every tourist information office as well as in most hotels of the city.

In the late evening tourists go to the riverside of Neva to enjoy the fantastic show of bridge drawing which can be observed from both sides of the river. In the heat of tourist season the riverside often offers various street performances and shows adding to the pleasure of watching as giant bridges are drawn. The same remarkable event in the city life is home games of the city football club Zenit. It can be claimed without a slightest doubt that each game of the football club is a real sport fest for its fans.

On a match day the city gets totally blue and white colored. Huge symbolic flying flags are seen almost everywhere. Tourists will meet football fans in original suits in the streets of the city. Sport fans should necessarily visit one of the matches of the football club to fully enjoy the game and to embrace the hot atmosphere of Russian football as well as to get some memorable souvenirs with football symbols. It should be noted that prices of football ticket in Saint Petersburg are still the highest in the country however a price of a ticket will be fully balanced with plenty of emotions and impressions one will get during the game. In case of the team victory local fans start a real craze in the streets of the city. Till the dawn tourists will hear the sounds of football horns accompanying the anthem of the team sung by fans. Copyright www.orangesmile.com

Tourists giving preference to cultural attractions and entertainments should visit the city of Saint Petersburg in May. The Museum Night is held there annually. Year by year a number of cultural establishments participating in the event gets increased. An exact date of the event should be specified in advance. Tourists are recommended to plan an excursion route in advance as it is totally impossible to visit all the museums of the city in one night.

It is not without reason that St. Petersburg is called the “cultural capital of Russia”. The number of theaters, museums, galleries and concert halls here can be compared with the number of art cafes on Broadway in New York. It is also not surprising that the festivals which are dedicated to theatrical art are some of the favorite events among locals and tourists. First of all, the cultural marathon devoted to the International Theater Day is worth highlighting. It is marked on March 27th under the title “All Day is Theater!”. The venue for this bright event is the Saint Petersburg State Museum of Theatre and Music. Attending the festival provides plenty of options like enjoying beautiful theater performances, music and dance performances or listening to a lecture program and witnessing musical concerts. At this time, themed tours around exhibition halls of the building are held.

The above-mentioned festival is followed by another significant theatrical event called “Meetings in Russia”. Excellent theater performances are included in its program and each of them is a premiere. In addition, the festival is attended by troupes from neighboring countries (Lithuania, Bulgaria, Belarus, Armenia, and Estonia). The theater-festival “Baltic House” takes this event under its roof, giving space for histrionics, conferences, and meetings with directors and actors of the theater. The Dance Open festival in the Alexandrinsky Theater is dedicated to ballet and conducted in mid-April. On its stage, classical and avant-garde ballet is performed.

Another interesting festival is dedicated to verse and timed to the World Day of Poetry (celebrated on March 21st), so the event usually takes place in the last days of March. The fest is free for the public and runs on several platforms. Firstly, there is the Art and Music Center of the Mayakovsky Central City Library, where meetings with contemporary Russian authors take place. Secondly, we have the Book House, where musical and poetry contests are held, as well as an interactive program for children and adults. In late March, St. Petersburg pays tribute to the influence of France on the city. The French Institute holds the Days of Francophony during this time which include a screening of French films in the original language and musical performances in French. As well as the aforementioned event, the Days of Francophony can be visited for free.

The middle and the end of March are not limited to holding theater and poetry festivals. The locals have long celebrated St. Patrick’s Day, which falls on the second Sunday of March. A special program is presented by pubs in the cultural capital of Russia. It might include, for instance, a particular menu, folk groups’ performances, and Irish dances. A musical concert, which takes place in the “Aurora concert hall”, is considered the most large-scale event of the holiday. Eminent domestic representatives of Celtic rock bands are always among the participants. Another festival that pays tribute to the Celtic culture is held in late October or early November. It is well known that the Celts traditionally celebrated Samhain at this time, which is the “ancestor” of Halloween. During the event, the same hall “Aurora” receives not only domestic folk groups but also foreign musicians.

Many tourists find it interesting to visit the so-called “Intelligent Flea Market”, the traditional venue of which is the Technopark “Lenpoligrafmash”. So, being there at the end of March, you can purchase valuable and unique items at favorable prices. These things will become a bright reminder of the wonderful trip to the northern capital of Russia. Another fair opens during the St. Petersburg Fashion Week (or simply SPbFW). The peculiarity of the fair is that the money earned from the selling of fashionable items goes to charity. Here you can buy both vintage and trendy outfits. Help lies in the fact that people bring clothes that they are not wearing anymore but which may be useful to others. As for the Fashion Week, it takes place in the Alexandrinsky Theater, where the designer’s ideas are presented by couturiers not only from Russia, but from other countries like Georgia, Belarus, Italy, and Ukraine.

St. Petersburg is a place of particular interest for music lovers. It hosts many wonderful musical events, among which several are worth mentioning. “Chart Dozen” fest, for example, is traditionally held in the Ice Palace in mid-February. The sponsor is the famous “Nashe Radio”. You can listen to the whole variety of rock during the event. The youth festival called VK-Fest, which is held at the depth of summer, in the middle of hot July, is also an exciting one. The picturesque Park of the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg is the most suitable place that could be possibly chosen for it. The festival is sponsored by the administration of the popular social network “Vkontakte”. Musicians who play different styles of music are usually invited to participate, so each visitor could find a genre to his liking. This is one of the most fun events in the city.

Those that are crazy about the incendiary bits will be happy to visit the northern capital of Russia in early April when the “Drop The Bass Festival” takes place. This event is dedicated to electronic music in all its manifestations. Anyone who wants to dance, or enjoy life and extraordinary fun, can go conquer the vastness of the popular night club Opera Concert Club. Moreover, the same club becomes the venue for the “Neuropunk Festival”. It can be visited by lovers of Russian punk who are guaranteed blood-boiling music in mid-April. Kurt Cobain is also loved in the cultural capital of Russia which is reflected in the “Kurt Cobain Birthday Fest”. The organizers give people the opportunity to remember about life and creation of the Nirvana’s frontman. In late February, the Russian musicians immerse us into the nostalgia of “Smells like teen spirit” in the club ZAL.

Lovers of jazz and related genres are always welcome to visit a wonderful festival called “Jazz Manor”. As the name implies, it runs open-air, which makes it one of the most popular summer festivals. The picturesque Elagin Island was chosen for this event, which takes place in early June. In addition to music, a gastronomic program, a fair with hand-made products and a playground with equipment for children are organized. The participants are not only Russian jazz and bluesmen but also foreign ones, for whom the performance at the festival is a great honor. Among young people, the “Tinkoff Stereoleto” festival is especially popular. It takes place in the “Sevkabel Port” exhibition complex in early July and brings together famous stars of the post-Soviet area.

Right before the “Jazz Manor”, the festival called “Legends of Norwegian Vikings” takes its place at the Hare Island at the end of May. Reconstruction lovers from all parts of Russia come here to take part in this event either as a viewer or as a participant. Cognitive dissonance can arise from a visit to this place. Visiting the island at this time feels like it is not the 21st century in the courtyard, but the very era when the Vikings conquered the continents and fought the conquest of lands. The program of the colorful festival includes battles between re-enactors, food courts, the opening of the fair with handicraft products, concerts of ancient music in modern and classical manufacturing, as well as a reproduction of Viking rites, and interactive events. The festival is visited annually by experts from the Norwegian Lofotr Viking Museum. You will be glad to learn that visiting the event is free.

It is also worth mentioning the “Leningrad Fest” musical event, which also takes its visitors to another era. This time, the “stop” is the Soviet era when the northern capital of Russia was called Leningrad. You can dive into this atmosphere in the entertainment center Freedom in early May. In addition to the music and dance program, visitors of the festival can expect contests, games, master classes, the opening of a flea market and food courts, as well as a fashion show. All this, respectively, is in the style of the USSR. An interesting event for the whole family is the “Festival of Inflatable Costumes”, which takes place at the end of March in Esenin’s Park. The corresponding outfit can be purchased or made independently, which should be pointed out, is a very exciting process. However, it is not less interesting to see what others are wearing. The culmination of the festival is the heroes show and Zumba Fitness flash mob.

Nevertheless, dressing up as favorite heroes is always popular in St. Petersburg. It is proven by the presence of three major cosplay festivals. One of them – Starcon – is the oldest fest in the entire post-Soviet region. It has earned abiding love of many fans of fantasy, cinema, games, and science. It is held in early July and includes a lot of activities: a costume show and a competition for the best outfit, a food tasting, sports competitions as well as film screenings and master classes. The favorite heroes of the residents of Saint Petersburg are the characters from “The Witcher”, “Doctor Who” and “Star Wars”. All these could be seen at the “Expoforum Convention and Exhibition Centre”. Among other interesting cosplay festivals, we should not fail to highlight Epic Con, which takes place at the St. Petersburg Sports and Concert Complex at the end of April, and “BigFest”, which starts in early June at the Street Art Museum.

Two unique events based on dressing up in your favorite characters are held in the northern capital. The first one is called the Carnival of Literary Heroes and it takes place in the historical district of the city near the Mikhailovsky Manege in the middle of May. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that the participants of the festival dress up in beloved characters of childhood tales or heroes of classical literature. It is obvious that this event looks completely different compared to many geek festivals, where characters from anime, movies, and games are presented. You cannot leave here without competition for the best outfit, where the winner is picked by the visitors of the festival. The second unique event is the “Zombie walk” carnival. As you can easily guess, the participants of this festival color themselves like “living dead”, and at the end of August, they organize a procession along the central streets of the city.

Excellent gastronomic festivals are also held in St. Petersburg. One of the most famous is the “Smelt festival”, which opens the fishing season. It takes place at the “Lenexpo Exhibition Complex” in the middle of May. Here you can not only try fish cooked in various ways but also participate in contests. A special program with attractions is organized for children, which makes the festival a place for the whole family. Another culinary fest is dedicated to gingerbread and is called “The World of Gingerbread”. It is held at the shopping center “Bolshoy Gostiny Dvor” at the end of November. The presentation of the monumental Gingerbread city is considered to be the most interesting part of the event. Besides the fact that you can taste the author’s delicacies, you can try a variety of gingerbreads from different cities, from Tula to Arkhangelsk and learn about their production.

Beer is also loved in the northern capital of Russia. Twice a year, the most devoted fans of the alcoholic beverage gather at festivals which are held as part of the St. Petersburg Craft Weekend. Thus, the Big Craft Beer Festival is held in the “Lenexpo Exhibition Complex” at the end of April, where hundreds of companies and private producers of beer present their products (about 120 varieties of craft beer are shown to visitors). All this is accompanied by live music concerts. Furthermore, tourists are able to enjoy fairs, contests, thematic exhibitions, art installations, and master classes. A no less interesting event is the Old Skull Fest, which is traditionally held after the aforementioned event in early May. The festival is a biennale, and for the second time, it is held in autumn at the end of September. Twice the “Aurora concert hall” was used as the venue for the fest.

One cannot fail to mention the festival, for which hundreds of travelers leave their home countries and come to the cultural capital of Russia. It is of course, about the bright and exciting event “Scarlet Sails”. This celebration of youth is held in early June. It is timed to the day when all pupils graduate from their schools. The culmination of the festival is the reproduction of a romantic scene on the Neva from the classic work of Alexander Green. The moment when the main hero of the novel sails for the sake of his beloved Assol on a ship with scarlet sails unfolds on the Neva River. This is an incredibly spectacular show that can compete in brilliance with New Year’s celebration in New York. Also, the event includes musical concerts that are held on Palace Square. The headliners are stars of the Russian music scene.

The “Scarlet Sails” festival together with the Founding day of the city marks the advent of the “white nights”. Thematic tours are held in the city in honor of this festival as well as several music festivals like “White Night Swing” and “White Night Stars”. The founding day of the city, which is on May 27, impresses tourists and locals with a rich cultural program. Another colorful event is the “Wonder of the World”. It is a bright cocktail of the latest technologies, which, as you know, can be confused with magic. This, however, does not detract the significance of the festival. Its venue is Pioneer Square. The buildings here are playing in bright colors during the event, and it creates an incredibly mystical charm. This spectacular show could be seen in mid-April.