Sergei Sobyanin: Parks of Moscow saw 73.5 million visitors this summer

From June to early September, Moscow culture institutions offered lots of programs for every taste to both locals and visitors. In his blog post, Sergei Sobyanin summarized the summer season that covered parks, libraries, culture centers, concert halls, the Moscow Zoo and the Moskino cinema park. 

Pools, yoga, cinema

About 73.5 million people visited Moscow parks this summer. Thanks to modern infrastructure and numerous programs, it was possible to properly relax there in any weather.

During hot days, 13 open-air pools were there to cool you off. More than 170,000 people took the chance. Pools in Khodynskoye Pole, Krasnaya Presnya and Mitino parks were the most popular.

“Landscaped picnic areas were also in high demand. Thanks to the online booking service launched this year, visitors could plan their picnics beforehand and choose locations most convenient for them. About 30,000 parties enjoyed our picnic areas this summer,” wrote the Moscow Mayor.

Open-air theaters screened movies in parks at night. There were 10 of them this year, including a new and modern one at the Pokrovsky Bereg recreation area. 65,000 people enjoyed movies under the open sky in the three summer months.

Eight parks in Moscow launched a new project called NyanyaRyadom. It is a quick nanny service. Babysitters were there to keep an eye on kids when their parents needed some time for themselves.

Yoga lessons were also popular. Free sessions dedicated to 10 types of yoga spanned 19 parks and took place from late May to early September. There were over 840 sessions in total, attended by more than 8,300 people.

Jazz, arts, theater

Parks hosted over 200 festivals as part of the Summer in Moscow project. Guests were free to choose from a selection of master classes, guided tours, over 100 public talks, movie screenings and quests. All that was attended by more than 950,000 people. The Moscow Jazz Festival 2024 held annually in June in the Hermitage Garden was among the most popular. This year it covered 11 parks with over 400 hours of live jazz. 300,000 visitors attended the performances.

Traditionally, the Gorky+ arts festival took place in August. During three days, over 70 music and stage shows, performances, circus shows, exhibitions, public talks and movie screenings were on. 330,000 people attended them.

Over 826,000 people enjoyed the Zaryadye summer music festival that took place in the park’s amphitheater — online or in person.

Another memorable summer event was the Idol 2024 World Circus Art Festival. Circus artists from 12 countries — Bulgaria, Vietnam, Germany, Guatemala, Spain, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Peru, USA, the Philippines and Ethiopia took the stage. Jugglers, tightrope walkers, gymnasts, animal tamers, clowns, etc. drew in 66,000 people. Shows by the Great Moscow Circus ballet troupe supported their performances.

“The colossal Theater Boulevard festival had to be extended due to popular demand. For 45 days, seven Moscow boulevards thundered with flamboyant stage and music shows and circus performances, hosted public talks, master classes and creative laboratories for everyone,” reminisced Mr. Sobyanin.

The Moscow International Film Week spanned over 100 venues in different areas of the city. The festival included 1,450 events of all kinds: from film screenings to themed tours to famous movie sets and a far-reaching business programs. Screenings were set up in movie theaters, parks, museums, sports arenas and swimming pools.

Quests, music shows and giant panda’s birthday

Free hobbyist clubs and circles kept functioning in culture centers and libraries. Over 10,000 performances, public talks, guided tours and educational quests were also offered to visitors.

Music halls presented over 800 programs featuring classical music, pop, jazz and other genres. More than 500,000 people attended those events.

The Moscow Zoo was one of the most popular family recreation spots. In early summer, they opened a new enclosure for snow leopards Dayna and Untsik, completely suited for every need the animals might have. In August, the zoo celebrated the first birthday of Katyusha, a giant panda. Over 2 million guests visited the zoo throughout the summer.

Students from arts schools and colleges proved themselves at international, national, and city-wide competitions. Karina Kossova, a student of Arts School No. 14, for instance, won the Category A award at Siam International Piano Competition in Thailand.

A key event this summer was the launch of the Moskino cinema park first stage. The park is a part of the Moscow Film Cluster.

“Our cinema park already offers 18 location shooting sites, 4 studios, 6 infrastructure facilities and 4 types of guided tours to introduce visitors to all that. The cinema park took part in the Times and Epochs historical festival for the first time. Over 40,000 people visited the park this summer,” pointed out Moscow Mayor.