Moscow Events and Holidays: What Happens When

Moscow's calendar mixes classical music, book fairs, food festivals and light shows. This page gathers the events we cover, from the Moscow Marathon in September to a chamber music festival in December.

Use the text below to see what happens in each part of the year. Dates change from year to year, and some events are ticketed while others are free, so check each official site for the current edition before you plan. Many events take place in the centre, and Metro stations near Red Square serve several of them.

Khamovniki

• December Nights Music Festival in Moscow – A chamber music festival held each December at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1981 by the pianist Sviatoslav Richter and…
• Moscow Marathon – Russia's largest running event, held every September, with a 42.2 km marathon through central Moscow, a 10 km race, relays and a children's run,…
• Orthodox Christmas in Moscow – The Russian Orthodox Christmas on 7 January, with the Christmas Eve liturgy at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, night services in churches and…
• Orthodox Easter in Moscow – The Orthodox Pascha, a movable Sunday feast ending Great Lent, with the midnight Paschal Vigil at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, blessed kulich…

Ostankinsky

• Cosmonautics Day in Moscow – The 12 April commemoration of Yuri Gagarin's first crewed space flight in 1961, with ceremonies, the titanium Monument to the Conquerors of Space and…
• Moscow Book Fair – Russia's largest and longest-running book fair, held every early September at VDNH, with publishers, author talks, children's literature events and a guest country; the…

Other areas

• Apple Savior Day in Moscow – The 19 August Transfiguration feast, popularly called the Apple Savior, when apples of the new harvest are blessed in churches and eaten as pies…
• Day of Family, Love and Fidelity in Moscow – A Russian observance on 8 July, the feast of Saints Peter and Fevronia, patrons of marriage, with the chamomile as its symbol, church services,…
• Epiphany Ice Swimming in Moscow – The Orthodox Epiphany tradition of plunging three times into blessed ice water, held every 18 to 19 January at dozens of official sites in…
• Ice Skating Season in Moscow – Moscow's winter skating season, from late November to March, with rinks on Red Square, in Gorky Park, at VDNKh and Sokolniki, and free rinks…
• International Women's Day in Moscow – A Russian public holiday on 8 March, now a day of flowers, spring and congratulations for women, with a day off, busy flower markets,…
• Knowledge Day in Moscow – The 1 September start of the Russian school year, with children in smart clothes carrying flowers for teachers, white bows, a ceremonial assembly and…
• Maslenitsa (Butter Week) in Moscow – The week before Orthodox Great Lent, a folk festival of blini, games, songs and the burning of a straw effigy that ends on Forgiveness…
• Moscow City Day – The city's birthday, marked on an early-September weekend with street fairs, concerts, district festivals, a pedestrian Tverskaya Street and fireworks in the evening.
• Moscow Easter Festival – A classical music festival founded in 2002 by Valery Gergiev, opening on Orthodox Easter with concerts by the Mariinsky Orchestra and guest soloists in…
• Moscow Estates Festival – A twice-yearly city festival that opens more than fifty historic estates, parks and mansions with concerts, historical picnics, workshops, tea and garden programs in…
• Museum Night in Moscow – A mid-May evening when Moscow's museums, galleries and cultural centers stay open until after midnight, usually free with advance tickets, with tours, concerts, lectures…
• Old New Year in Moscow – An unofficial holiday on the night of 13 to 14 January, the New Year of the old Julian calendar, celebrated with feasts, old customs…
• Spring and Labour Day in Moscow – A Russian public holiday on 1 May, the former Soviet May Day, now mostly a spring day off spent outdoors, with parks, barbecues, flowers…
• Trinity Day in Moscow – The Orthodox feast of Pentecost, fifty days after Easter, when churches are decorated with birch branches and greenery and priests wear green vestments, with…

Tverskoy

• Circle of Light Festival in Moscow – An international festival of light held in Moscow in autumn, with projection mapping on theater and museum facades, laser shows, light installations in parks…
• Day of Slavic Writing and Culture in Moscow – The 24 May feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius, creators of the first Slavic alphabet, marked in Moscow with a cathedral liturgy, a procession…
• Defender of the Fatherland Day in Moscow – A Russian public holiday on 23 February that honors military service and is widely treated as a day to congratulate men, with wreath-laying at…
• Easter Gift Festival in Moscow – A free spring charity festival held around Orthodox Easter, with master classes, Easter cooking and crafts, lessons in kindness, exchange fairs and themed decorations…
• Gardens and Flowers Festival in Moscow – A summer landscaping festival that turns central squares and streets into exhibition gardens, with flower installations, fountains and photo spots, free to walk through.
• Golden Autumn Festival in Moscow – The city's autumn food festival, with regional fairs, farm products, pumpkin and flower installations, cooking classes and concerts on central squares and in the…
• Journey to Christmas Festival in Moscow – Moscow's big winter festival, held from mid-December to mid-January across dozens of venues, with themed decorations on Manezhnaya Square, fairs, skating rinks, carousels and…
• Moscow Fish Week – A late-spring food festival with fish and seafood markets, special restaurant menus, cooking classes, concerts and fishing contests, held at central squares and in…
• Moscow Spring Festival – The city's spring festival program, held from late April into May at central squares and district venues, with free concerts, workshops, children's programs and…
• Moscow Tea Party Festival – The city's tea project, with samovar tea at Tverskaya Square, carts and tea stations in parks, free tastings, a blend competition and special tea…
• Moscow Traditions Festival – An umbrella for the city's folk-culture festival programs: Maslenitsa, summer festivals on the central squares, craft workshops, tea, and estate events, mostly free.
• National Unity Day in Moscow – A Russian public holiday on 4 November recalling the 1612 liberation of Moscow by the militia of Minin and Pozharsky, marked with flowers at…
• New Year in Moscow – Russia's main winter holiday, from the Kremlin chimes at midnight on 31 December to the Orthodox Christmas holidays on 7 January, with decorated squares,…
• Non/fiction Book Fair in Moscow – A twice-yearly international book fair in the historic Gostiny Dvor on Ilyinka Street, with hundreds of publishers, author talks, antiquarian books and a children's…
• Pushkin Day and Russian Language Day in Moscow – The 6 June birthday of Alexander Pushkin, born in Moscow in 1799, which is also the UN Russian Language Day, marked with poetry readings,…
• Russia Day in Moscow – A Russian public holiday on 12 June marking the 1990 Declaration of State Sovereignty, with a day off, concerts and events around Red Square,…
• Spasskaya Tower Military Music Festival – The annual international military music festival on Red Square: marching bands, honor guards, riding displays, theatrical shows and fireworks in the evenings of late…
• Tatiana Day (Students' Day) in Moscow – The Russian Students' Day on 25 January, the feast of St. Tatiana and the anniversary of the founding of Moscow University in 1755, celebrated…
• Victory Day in Moscow – A Russian public holiday on 9 May that commemorates the end of the Great Patriotic War, with a military parade on Red Square, the…

Yakimanka

• Moscow Summer Fair – The city's summer market of Moscow-made goods on Bolotnaya Square, with a food court, open-air cinema and events, plus art pavilions on popular walking…

Spring and early summer

The Moscow Easter Festival is a classical music festival founded by Valery Gergiev. It opens on Orthodox Easter, with concerts by the Mariinsky Orchestra and guest soloists, and most concerts are ticketed.

Museum Night is held on a Saturday in mid-May, when museums, galleries and cultural centers stay open until after midnight, usually free with advance tickets. Moscow Fish Week is a late-spring food festival with fish markets, special restaurant menus and cooking classes, free to enter.

The Gardens and Flowers Festival turns central squares into exhibition gardens in summer, and the Moscow Summer Fair on Bolotnaya Square sells Moscow-made goods. Both are free to enter.

Late summer and autumn

The Spasskaya Tower Military Music Festival fills Red Square with marching bands, riding displays and fireworks on about ten consecutive evenings in late summer. The evening shows are ticketed.

The Moscow Book Fair is held at VDNH every early September, and the Moscow Marathon runs on a Sunday morning in September, finishing at Luzhniki. Watching from the streets is free.

The Circle of Light Festival fills facades and parks with projections after dusk in late September, free to watch. Golden Autumn runs from late September into October with regional fairs and cooking classes. Non/fiction is a separate book fair held twice a year at Gostiny Dvor, in April and in late autumn, with tickets.

Winter

December Nights is a chamber music festival held each December at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts. Founded by the pianist Sviatoslav Richter and the museum's director, it ties its programs to a museum exhibition.

Concerts are held in the evening, usually starting at 19:00, and weekends are likely to sell out first. Tickets are sold by the museum, so check the official site for the current program and dates. Kropotkinskaya is the nearest Metro station.

Frequently asked questions

Which Moscow events are free?

The Circle of Light Festival, Fish Week, Golden Autumn, the Gardens and Flowers Festival and the Summer Fair are free to enter. Museum Night is usually free with advance tickets.

What is the difference between Non/fiction and the Moscow Book Fair?

They are separate events. Non/fiction is held twice a year at Gostiny Dvor, while the Moscow Book Fair is held every early September at VDNH.

When is Museum Night?

It is held on a Saturday in mid-May, with most venues open from about 18:00 until after midnight. Early evening is the busiest time.

Can I watch the Moscow Marathon without running?

Yes. Watching from the streets is free. The race starts in the morning on a Sunday and finishes at Luzhniki.

When are the Spasskaya Tower shows?

They are held in the evening after dusk, on about ten consecutive evenings in late summer. The shows are ticketed, so check the official site.