By Vestnik Kavkaza
The WOMAD (World of Music, Art and Dance) Russia - Russia MCR (Music and Crafts of Russia) festival will be held in Russia for the first time in September 2013 in the town of Kislovodsk in the Stavropol Territory. WOMAD Russia - MCR Russia will be held in partnership with WOMAD Worldwide, organizer of music festivals in the UK and 26 countries.
Chris Smith, director of international WOMAD festivals
The WOMAD festival is part of a group of companies "Peter Gabriel", "Rock Star", as well as the record company "Real World." We record music all around the world and bring it to a wider audience as well as organize tours for Peter Gabriel and other artists, organize one of the finest festivals in the world. For about the last 30 years we have been organizing the work, familiarizing people with dancing, culture and cuisine. This festival is not only about music, but also about culture. In the last 30 years more than 200 festivals in 28 countries have been organized on our initiative. We present programs, artists and performers that are unique. We always engage local artists. In Russia, we are counting on them. We are trying to share the worldwide experience and bring to people the idea that we are part of one world and that we can do it and understand it better through music, we are trying to give you music you've never heard before. The festival is about culture, as well as business. Now there is talk, why do we need a festival in the North Caucasus. We believe that the festival has economic aspects, have a business, chances and opportunities in tourism. It will influence the local population, as we are working with the local community as well. In addition, this an event of a global sale, it is an international event, and it will attract the attention of people from all over the world.
Anton Pak, director general of "Corporation for the development of North Caucasus"
"North Caucasus Mountain Club," in the framework of which the festival will be held is one of the projects of the "Corporation". It focuses on the development of extreme and ecological tourism in the region. The project provides construction of unit hotel by spring 2013 on Mount Elbrus able to accommodate 48 people. They are designed first of all for climbers, those who are going to climb Elbrus and who will be in need of acclimatization. They will be located not far from Shelter 11, which unfortunately burned down a few years ago and stopped functioning, so this is a very important infrastructure for such extreme travelers, who in great numbers arrive in the region.
We very much hope that it will become an annual even which will take place in Kislovodsk every year. Another important point is the impact of this festival. A few thousand tourists will come. Then they will travel around the region, they will visit not only Kislovodsk, but the entire North Caucasus Federal District. Many of them, judging from the experience of these festivals in other regions, will come to visit particular sights which are located nearby. So for us it is an exceptionally important event, as it will have a very long term effect. These people, if they like the Caucasus, will tell their friends about what a great time they had. The next year not only the festival but the whole region will receive a sufficiently large number of new visitors, who before that perhaps never considered a trip to the North Caucasus possible. This is exactly the main reason why we as a corporation invest money and effort in hosting this festival. We believe that it will have a very large effect on the area.
Andrei Katyaev, managing director of "North Caucasus Mountain Club"
The main task of the "North Caucasus Mountain Club" is to create conditions for the development of tourism, fir the development of its different forms - active and inactive, extreme, etc. The effect regarding advertising territories, forming a positive image to attract tourists is very good. We hope and we are convinced that the WOMAD festival in the Caucasus will have the same impact, and perhaps even a better one. This festival has a regular audience that travels from England to Spain, from Spain to Abu Dhabi, Australia, New Zealand. And we hope that these tourists, fans of the festival will come to Russia. Thus, we will provide extra tourists for the North Caucasus, and people after the festival will disperse throughout the Caucasus, observe, relax and absorb all good that exists in the Caucasus. At the moment we are working on creating the visitcaucasus.ru portal. It will be a virtual gateway to the Caucasus, and people will be able get maximum information on what to see, how to book a journey and so on.
This portal will start working one the eve of the festival and people will be able to organize their journey at once with the help of this portal.
When we were thinking where to hold the festival, we have decided that the best place is the town of Kislovodsk due to climatic conditions. It is also not only a virtual but also an actual gateway to the Caucasus: to the northern Elbrus, Karachai-Cherkessia, Dombai, Arkhyz and so on. In addition, Kislovodsk is a pearl of Caucasian mineral waters, where there is an opportunity to have a nice rest and where there is a very good climate. We have chosen the beginning of September. This is the time of a slight decrease in tourists for Kislovodsk because Kislovodsk is filled with tourists all year round. At the same time there and fruits, nuts, and everything else. It is a good cropping season. And the climate is warm. When in the suburbs of Moscow and other regions of Russia it is already cold, there is an optimal climate there, green grass, the off-peak season. We have high hopes that the festival will become a good cause for the development of tourism, for the change and improvement of the atmosphere in the Caucasus. At the same time, I hope that this event will affect the development of World Music in Russia, the development of ethnic music and not only of ethnic music.
It is strategically important because it will in fact develop the infrastructure of Kislovodsk, develop small and medium-sized businesses, develop the World Music market in Russia, improve the image of the Caucasus, and at the same time it is a holiday, a good event for public and tourists. This event provides a very complex impact.
