Environment

Earth Hour: How Moscow parks will celebrate the international event

Earth Hour: How Moscow parks will celebrate the international event
On the evening of 24 March, Moscow parks will turn off their lights in certain areas for one hour.

Fourteen Moscow parks will participate in the Earth Hour environmental event, which will be held on 24 March. The main venue will be Zaryadye Park. As per usual, the Department for Environmental Management and Protection has organised all Earth Hour activities in the capital.

“Moscow is taking part in the Earth Hour event for the 10th time. This year, parks will switch off their lights between 8.30 and 9.30 pm,” the press service of Moscow City Parks (Mosgorpark) reports.

Gorky Park will turn off the lighting at its main entrance for an hour. In Sokolniki, the lighting at the entrance, the arc alleys, the Fountain and Festival squares, and the Dog (Maisky), the Golden and the Deer ponds will go off. Izmailovsky Park will switch off the illumination at the large and small observation wheels, its entrance lighting and other lights. Memorial steles to the fronts and fleets of the Great Patriotic War will go dark on the main alley of Victory Park on Poklonnaya Gora. Babushkinsky Park and the Moscow Zoo will turn off their entrance lighting.

The Vorontsovo Estate, Lianozovsky Park, Fili Park and other parks will turn off their decorative lighting. In the Vorontsovo Estate cafe, a guitarist will perform by candlelight during the event.

The main site of the event will be located near the Dome pavilion at Zaryadye Park. At 7 pm, DJs and entertainers will perform here. Guests will receive flags and light-up bracelets. The park will turn off its lighting at 8.30 pm.

Parks that will join the Earth Hour event:

Zaryadye

Fili

50th Anniversary of October Park

Olympic Village Park

Gorky Park

Lianozovsky Park

Sokolniki

Izmailovsky Park;

Babushkinsky Park;

Vorontsovo Estate

Victory Park on Poklonnaya Gora;

Kuskovo Estate;

Tsaritsyno Estate;

Moscow Zoo.

Moscow joined Earth Hour in 2009. In 2013, lighting at the Moscow Kremlin and over 100 buildings was turned off. Since then, the number of participants has been growing every year: in 2014, the event involved about 400 buildings, in 2015 — more than 800, and in 2016 — already 1,500.

In 2017, 184 countries took part in Earth Hour. Muscovites supported the event with a bike ride and flash mobs. Fourteen parks also joined in. Lighting was switched off at about 1,700 buildings, including the Christ the Saviour Cathedral, Luzhniki Stadium, the World Trade Centre, buildings on Novy Arbat and Tverskaya streets, railway stations, hotels, cultural facilities and VDNKh pavilions. The Ostankino TV Tower also went dark.

This year, lighting on advertisements, well-known buildings and other city sites will be turned off during Earth Hour. Residents are also invited to turn off for this time some of their electrical devices and lights. The event aims to draw attention to environmental problems and remind people about the importance of careful consumption of electricity and other resources.