Moscow Cultural Forum opens today

The Moscow Manege will host the Moscow Cultural Forum from 24 to 26 March. It's a platform for an open dialogue between city's cultural institutions and residents. At the first floor there will be "Moscow Cinema" film theater, which will host professional programs with experts from the film industry of Moscow, presentations of Russian films and the festival of cartoons. On March 25, the day when Russia celebrates professional holiday the Cultural Workers Day, "Moscow Cinema" will host free screenings of films and cartoons. This year, just like last year, "Theater Night" action will begin on March 26. The citywide action "Theater Night" traditionally takes place on the eve of the World Theater Day, which is celebrated on March 27.

As the head of Moscow's Department of Culture, Alexander Kibovsky, Moscow authorities expect a record number of visitors. Last year's Moscow Cultural Forum was visited by more than 53 thousand people in three days. "We have the opportunity to see everything our city has in terms of culture, art. Everyone can find something their interested in. I hope this year we'll set a new attendance record," Kibovsky said. 

According to him, the forum will be divided into two parts - cultural and business. Cultural part includes meetings with famous artists, presentations of various plays, films, master classes. Business part will be attended by heads of more than 600 cultural institutions, who will discuss their projects and plans.

"Today Moscow has a huge number of cultural and creative centers - more than 10,000. Almost in every district of Moscow there's some kind of cultural, creative center. This is a huge potential, which is very underrated. I witnessed how during previous cultural forum people were surprised to find out that there's some center next to their house. A cultural map of Moscow, which we will show at the forum, will suprise many this year, too," he noted.

According to him, many residents of Moscow say that they regularly visit certain cultural institutions: "Every day the city hosts more than 70 notable cultural events. Last year we hosted more than 3,500 concerts and more than 23,500 performances. Over the past year Moscow hosted 280 theater premieres. We had some premiere almost every day of the theatrical season. At least four exhibitions open in Moscow every day. There are events beloved by all residents - 'Theater Night', 'Museum Night'. Last year we created another one - 'Cinema Night', it will be an annual event."