Summer at the Dacha: How Tsaritsyno Is Reviving the Culture of Country Leisure
A century ago, Tsaritsyno was one of the most popular summer retreat destinations near Moscow. Writers, artists, and musicians rented country cottages here, hosted private concerts, strolled through the landscape park, and welcomed guests on their verandas. A hundred years later, the route remains the same — only the format has changed: instead of a traditional dacha season, visitors can enjoy the 10-day “Dachnoye Tsaritsyno” festival, inviting everyone to step away from the pace of city life for a while.
A Large Urban Courtyard
The eighth edition of the festival runs from July 10 to 19 in the Green Parterre, one of the largest open-air spaces at the Tsaritsyno Museum-Reserve.
This year, guest supervisor Denis Gavrilin, winner of the ArchiWood Award, has reimagined the venue as a large urban courtyard. The familiar stage location has been changed, creating a lively environment filled with photo-worthy spaces. While a concert is taking place on stage, visitors can play badminton or mini golf nearby, enjoy traditional games from across Russia, take part in a workshop at a long blue table, attend a lecture, or simply relax in a deck chair on an improvised veranda with a book. The atmosphere is enhanced by interactive art installations created by artists Vera Gorbushina and Oleg Gorbushin, as well as the photo exhibition “My Neighbor Is an Eccentric.”
A Space for Good Neighborliness
This year’s festival theme is “Neighbors.” However, the organizers encourage visitors to interpret the theme much more broadly than simply the relationships between people living in the same building. It is about the coexistence of generations, cultures, musical traditions, creative practices, and even different ways of spending free time.
This approach reflects the Year of the Unity of the Peoples of Russia and the museum-reserve’s broader philosophy, which emphasizes respect for nature, cultural heritage, and the people around us.
From Morning Exercise to Open-Air Concerts
The festival features more than 150 events, carefully scheduled so visitors can spend an entire day in the park.
Each morning begins with a group exercise session, followed by children's theater performances. Throughout the day, two permanent creative workshops are open, alongside lectures on art and psychology, street art and circus arts laboratories, and other activities. Visitors can also enjoy board games and outdoor games on the lawn.
On Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, the daytime program continues with concerts for children, while family-friendly performances begin at 6:00 p.m.
Music Without Genre Boundaries
Every evening at 8:00 p.m., the Green Parterre transforms into a large concert venue.
The lineup includes jazz singer Mariam Merabova, keyboardist and Moscow underground veteran Pavel Khotin, poet and performer Gospodin Litvinovich (Sergey Parokhodov), the Camerata Komitas ensemble, which blends European Baroque with Soviet classical music, the band Diktofon with its “Concert Accompanied by Piano” program, Taya Paltseva’s solo project, the trio STRIO, and Colombian band Marimbea All Stars.
Open-Air Performances
Alongside traditional productions, the festival also features performances that defy conventional genres. Visitors have already experienced a rap musical and watched Andrey Kislitsin’s pantomime “Andryushka-Petrushka,” a fairy tale about a “Russian trickster.” Still to come are an immersive performance about pizza, the promenade production “Just Like Everyone Else” from Voronezh, an unconventional interpretation of Ruslan and Lyudmila, and a musical performance dedicated to Anna German.
Many productions take place not only on stage but also among festival visitors. As a result, theater becomes part of the walk itself: a performance may begin just around the corner.
“Dachnoye Tsaritsyno” is an attempt to revive the culture of unhurried leisure that was once characteristic of dacha communities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.