Moscow City Day
Moscow City Day (День города Москвы) is an annual celebration of, as the name indicates, the city of Moscow. It is celebrated on the first or second Saturday of September meaning that this year, which marks the 872th anniversary of the city, the celebrations will be held on the 7-8 of September. What is Moscow City Day and how does one celebrate it? Well, keep reading and you will find out.
History
Let us start with a mandatory history lesson before digging into the fun parts of how to celebrate it. As mentioned earlier this is the 872th anniversary which means that we, with a bit of help from simple math, understands that Moscow as a city was founded in the year of 1147. The first celebration of the city though, was not held until 700 years later in 1847. By orders of Tsar Nicholas the celebration was scheduled for January 1 and on that day churches prayed for the glory of the capital and important places like the Kremlin were illuminated. The next large celebration of Moscow was not held until 100 years later on the 800th anniversary of the capital in 1947. It was then held on September 7 and the celebrations were a bit more grand then the ones from 100 years before. Moscow buildings once again were being illuminated, there were exhibitions and concerts and everything ended with grand salutes.
Then in took another 39 years before Moscow was celebrated again, but from 1986 it has been an annual event with exception for a few years. Every year the celebration grows bigger with more and more events. This brings us to modern days and this year’s celebrations. Let us find out what Moscow has in store for us in 2019.
How to celebrate
The party kicks off at 10.am on September 7 and the main celebrations will be held on Tverskaya Street which, due to the celebrations, will transform into a pedestrian zone. In other words there will be no cars, so feel free to walk in the middle of the road down to the Kremlin. On Tverskaya you will be able to see contributions of famous Muscovites to the capital’s history on display, there will be food stands and much more.
Overall, more than 1000 different events and activities will be held during the weekend and there will be something for everyone. The celebrations will include everything from parades, fairs, sport contests, master classes, and live music concerts to free city tours. A large number of museums will offer free admission and free tours and preliminary registration will not be required. Many of the museums have prepared special exhibitions for the weekend. Concerts will take place all throughout the day, the biggest ones will be held on the larger squares in Moscow and in the city parks such as Gorkij park, Tsaritsyno, Sokolniki and Kolomenskoye. The celebrations end with large fireworks in the evening from several different spots in Moscow around 9-10 pm. Can you think of a better ending? I can not.
PS: the Metro will stay open all night on September 7 so you can go around the city as you please. Note though, that this does not apply to the land transport such as buses or trams.
As you may have understood from reading this article, Moscow is inviting us to a big party this weekend. To find out more about all the activities going on, just Google “Moscow City Day 2019” and you will find all the information that you need. What are you most excited about? Please share it with a comment below, maybe you will find new friends who wants to do the same things as you!
