Moscow celebrates its 868th birthday

Today, on September 5th, Moscow is celebrating its 868th anniversary. More than 500 events were held this weekend in the capital of Russia. More than 10 million people will be able to visit these events. Moscow residents can see and listen to bands, a street theater festival, author tours, as well as a performance by the legendary rock band Aerosmith.

City Hall announced that more than 300 live performances, 80 workshops, and 247 tour routes are expected to take place.

Festivities began with a procession of the festival Spasskaya Tower from Tverskaya to Pushkin Square. Then the official events began: representatives of the city authorities, public organizations and veterans laid flowers and wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the Alexander Garden. At noon, the opening ceremony of City Day started on Red Square. 

At exactly 1:00 pm (MSK) other entertainment sites of the city started their work after the anthem of Moscow was played.

Tverskaya Street has become a unique retrospective, which tells about the glorious history of three centuries of Russian victories and achievements. Copies of triumphal arches were recreated along the street, which symbolized different periods of Russia in honor of great events – from the time of Peter I to the Soviet period. 

Eight triumphal arches were erected on Tverskaya, each site was decorated according to the historical traditions of the period. Historical reconstructions, master classes and costume performances are held at each site during the day.

At the time of the holiday, Tsvetnoy Boulevard turned into a сhild's playground. Fascinating master classes in dance, singing, modeling, painting, application and performances of theater companies for children will take place here. Celebrations are also held on Gogol, Nikitsky, Tverskoy, Strastnoy, Petrovsky, Sretensky, Chistoprudny, Pokrovsky and Yauza Boulevards.

The main musical event of the day was a big concert on Lubyanka Square, where Gorky Park, Polina Gagarina, Grigory Leps, Dima Bilan and John Newman performed, as well as the headliner – the legendary rock musicians Aerosmith.