(Listed below are some of the events & festivals celebrated in Russia)
- Russian Winter Festival: This takes place in Moscow, with special events and activities like rides in troikas (sleighs drawn by three horses)
- Russian Orthodox Christmas: Celebrated on the 7th of Janaury and Russians would usually host dinners for their friends and families.
- Musical Spring in St. Petersburg: An international classical music festival.
- Pashka (Easter): This is the main holiday of the Russian Orthodox Church and is the end of their 40 days of fasting. Russians would then attend attend midnight church services and feast with special cakes to celebrate.
- White Nights Festival: An annual international arts festival during the season of the midnight sun and includes a series of performaces by Russian dancers, singers, musicians and actors
- St. Petersburg Beer Festival: This festival begins with a parade down Nevsky Prospect and ends with a firework display, with a lot of drinking.
- Moscow International Film Festival: New and classic films are shown in theatres all over Moscow for this festival
Sports
Russians are famous for their sporting ability and they do very well in international sporting events like the Olympics. Just like the rest of the world, football is very popular in Russia, and goalkeeper Lev Yashin is a part of the country's proud tradition for helping Russia to get the gold medal in the 1956 Olympics. Ice Hockey was introduced during the Soviet Era and the success of the national team was attributed to the Soviet player-development system and coach Anatoly Tarasov's leadership. Though Russians excel in sports, on the amateur level, many average Russian citizens are unable to participate in such sporting activities due to a lack of facilities and equipment, but jogging, football and fishing are popular pastimes among these citizens.
Performance Arts
Russians take performing arts very seriously and even small dance companies and music schools demand perfection from the performers, thus giving little opportunities to amateur performers. Performances generally start at 7pm in Russia and both locals and foreigners visit these theatres regularly. Though many major theatres in Moscow have closed down, the Bolshoi theatre remains as Moscow's top dance theatre and it sends regular troupes on vacation in the summer to host visiting companies. Classical music is performed at various concert halls and museums like the Chaliapin House Museum, International House of Music, Moscow Conservatory and the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall. Russian Opera is not as famous internationally as its ballet but it is popular among the locals and opera tickets at the Bolshoi Theatre cost a lot less than ballet tickets. English-language theatre troupes sometimes visit Moscow in order to perform Russian classics and they stage a few performances in English at various theatres in Russia like the Maly Theatre or the Bolshoi Theatre.
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