The annual spring festival, Easter Gift, will be held in Moscow from 7 to 15 April. Charity and entertainment events are planned through the Easter week at 38 venues in various parts of the city.
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The main locations for the celebration traditionally include Manezhnaya and Tverskaya squares, Revolyutsii Square, Tverskoi Boulevard, Novy Arbat Street, Kamergersky and Klimentovsky pereuloks (lanes.)
“The festival’s special theme will be charity. During Easter Gift, visitors will be welcome to donate money or gifts to those in need, learn all about the work of charitable foundations operating in our country and join them. For the first time at the festival, it will be possible to help not only people but also animals – projects to help Moscow shelters will be organised on Tverskoi Boulevard. Also on weekends, traditional Easter charity balls will take place on Tverskaya Square,” the organising committee reported.
Most events will run from 11am to 8 pm Monday to Thursday and from 11am to 9 pm Friday to Sunday.
Performances by actors from Moscow theatres and performance companies from Russia’s regions will be shown during the festival on Manezhnaya Square, Revolyutsii Square, in Kamergersky Pereulok, on Profsoyuznaya Street and on Yunosti Square in Zelenograd. They will show Easter plays and performances based on famous Russian stories – The Humpbacked Horse, The Tale of Tsar Saltan, The Scarlet Flower, The Wizard of the Emerald City and others. Revolyutsii and Manezhnaya squares will host performances by inclusive theatres, nominees for the Golden Mask Award.
An art workshop for young people will open on Manezhnaya Square. Children and teenagers will learn how to make Easter souvenirs, ornaments and decor items. At the same time, the Workshop of Good Deeds will be working on Revolyutsii Square, where guests will be able to make handmade gifts and donate them to a charitable foundation. A stained glass workshop will be held on Tverskaya Square, where artists will make colourful stained glass all day and teach guests the art of making stained glass windows and other items. The “Easter Parlour” nearby will offer workshops in needlework (embroidery and decoration of textile accessories), the painting of Easter eggs and making Easter cards.
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The Kamergersky Pereulok venues will show people how to prepare original and delicious Easter food. During the culinary workshops, professional chefs will share the secrets of making Easter treats and healthy dishes for the festive table. Culinary experts will open the secrets of tasty lean dishes and teach participants the correct use of a variety of spices – ginger, turmeric, cinnamon and cloves. Young festival goers will learn how to prepare desserts from old Russian recipes at the culinary school on Profsoyuznaya Street, 41. Culinary classes will be held on Tverskaya Square: baking cakes and making marzipan. As a bonus, guests will be told about Moscow’s traditions of Easter celebration here.
Novy Arbat Street will host a charity book fair during the festival. Leading publishers will present their products, and part of the proceeds will be given to charitable organisations. This venue will also feature a charitable book collection: visitors can bring their own books to donate, or buy new ones in the Novy Arbat shopping pavilions and donate there. Meetings with famous writers will also take place on this site.
On Klimentovsky Pereulok, they will install a belfry of flat bells – ‘bilos’ in Russian – these instruments are a Russian invention, with nothing similar in the world. Guests will enjoy demonstration performances by Moscow bilo masters. After making a donation in favour of the fund – a participant of the festival – visitors will have an opportunity to play the bilo and take a lesson from a professional. Guests at this site will also be able to see world-famous Moscow bells. The exhibit will display replicas of the bells of the Christ the Savior Cathedral (The Ceremonial Grand Bell and the Sanctifier Bell); Ivan the Great Bells (the Bear, Reut, Korsunsky and Nemchin bells); the Uspenskaya belfry at the Moscow Kremlin (the Seven Hundred bell, and the Grand Assumption bell); and the Great Bell of the Danilovsky Monastery, and the Alarm Bell from the Armoury Chamber.
Tverskoi Boulevard will feature events devoted to helping homeless animals. Lectures on how to take care of pets and how to choose the right friend at a shelter will take place near the Kliment Timiryazev Monument. The participants will also be able to buy from and donate funds to feed stray animals. The festive programme will include a photo display on animals.
The Easter Gift festival has been held in Moscow every spring since 2014. It begins on Easter Eve and lasts all Easter week. Last year, more than 3 million Muscovites and guests visited festival venues and more than 1,300 various festive events were organised.
Souce: mos.ru