Where to go for New Year holidays in Moscow

The festival 'Journey to Christmas' is one of the most favorite, most popular and most visited in Europe festivals for both Moscow citizens and guests of the capital. Last year, it was attended by 12.5 million people, it will become clear how many it will be visited this time after January 14 - the date on which the festival ends.

Head of the Moscow Department of Trade and Services Alexei Nemeryuk, says that this is one of the largest Christmas festivals in Europe, both in terms of the number of venues, events, animation programs, as well as products represented there, not only from Moscow and other Russian regions, but also from abroad.

"The number of venues this year is unprecedented. If last year we had only 42 venues, then this year there are 83 of them. The parks take active participation this year, holding various animation, cultural, festive, theatrical programs and quests. This is already the fifth festival. It is dedicated to favorite theaters, famous performances, directors, artists. More than 100 theatrical groups will perform at the festival venues - on the Garden Ring, on Tverskaya Street, Manezhnaya Square, Revolution Square, in the districts. The troupes from the Czech Republic, Austria, France, Spain, Scandinavian countries will perform at the New Arbat and Tverskoy," Nemeryuk said.

He recalled that the ice rink, which became a tradition for the festival 'Journey to Christmas', was moved from Revolution Square to Novopushkinsky Square: "The ice rink became twice as large there and twice as many people will be able to see the performances organized by Peter Chernyshev and his the team.The number of seats was increased to 1200. There are five performances on the ice arena - The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Chipollino, Snow White and the Cinderella ballet.

The head of the Department of Culture of Moscow, Alexander Kibovsky, stressed that 'the mayor's Christmas show' has already started in Gostiny Dvor, and 'the prefect's Christmas show' in each district: "'the mayor's Christmas show' will continue until January 4. During these holidays, it will be attended by 52.5 thousand guests. In addition, Moscow is one of the main operators of the 'Kremlin Christmas show'. 30 thousand invitations to the Kremlin Christmas show will be given to Moscow children. During the school holidays, more than 250 Christmas shows will take place in different places. That is, the total coverage will be about one million guests. Children from families  that are in need of social support are invited to such Christmas shows. Children should be in a good mood during New Year's holidays, regardless of whether their families have such an opportunity. Invitations to Christmas shows on behalf of the mayor of Moscow are distributed free of charge."