Four ways to celebrate Victory Day in Moscow

As usual, Red Square will become the focus of Victory Day celebrations. This year the parade will involve12,500 officers and soldiers and 120 pieces of equipment. Those unable to get a place on one of the stands on 9 May can go to any other festival venue scattered all over the capital. Mos.ru suggests some of the most interesting locations.

Concert, live broadcast of parade and photo exhibition all in the heart of Moscow

On 9 May, festive concerts will take place on the square in front of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. Television screens throughout the city will start broadcasting the Victory Day Parade on Red Square at 10 am (a boon for those staying in central Moscow barred from Red Square). A concert involving the Youth Symphony Orchestra of the World Festival of Youth and Students, prize-winners of the All-Russian Festival-Competition Crystal Starlets, musicians from the Galina Vishnevskaya Opera Singing Centre, the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra for Children and Teenagers directed by Ivan Rudin and soloist Alisa Grebenshchikova, as well as the Quatro music band, begins at noon.

People visiting Poklonnaya Gora (Hill) will be able to watch the parade on a large television screen, followed by a performance given by the Mariinsky Theatre’s Symphony Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiyev, the Moscow State Academic Dance Theatre Gzhel, the Vasilisa Nikolayeva/Vladislav Kiryukhin opera duo, the Quintet music band and the Pobratimy (Sworn Brothers) choreography ensemble. From 7 pm to 10 pm, there’ll be another concert on Poklonnaya Gora with Oleg Gazmanov, Rinat Ibragimov, Diana Gurtskaya, Dmitry Kharatyan and other performers as well.

Those who like peace and quiet should not shy away from central Moscow on Victory Day but go to see one of the many displays of archival photos, Faces of Victory, on Arbat, the Chistoprudny, Nikitsky and Gogolevsky boulevards.

Theatres in local parks

People flocking to numerous local parks will also be able to watch the parade broadcast as of 10 am, followed by theatrical performances and also concerts. Actors and actresses from Vyacheslav Spesivtsev’s Moscow Youth Experimental Theatre and the Moscow New Drama Theatre will perform on Kosmonavtov Alley, followed by Gleb Matveichuk, Yulia Nachalova, Dina Garipova, Yevgeny Kungurov, the Ulybka (Smile) Exemplary Dance Ensemble, the Popov State Academic Ryazan Russian Folk Choir, Maxim Kaluzhskikh, the Ost Up music band, the Bayan (Accordion) Mix duo, Vasily Lanovoi and Dima Bilan.

The Moscow Drama Theatre on Perovskaya Street, the Moscow Theatre of Illusions, singer Prokhor Chaliapin, the Quatro music band, singers Zara and Ostap will perform in Izmailovsky Park. The concert will resume after a moment of silence at 6.55 pm, with Alexander Buinov, Rodion Gazmanov, Brandon Stone and Yulia Nachalova later performing on stage.

At 1 pm, Shalom Theatre actors and actresses will perform in Pechatniki Park, followed by actors from the Kapotnya Palace of Culture, the Alexei Rybnikov Theatre, the Zarechye House of Culture and the Astakhov Cultural Centre. The musical programme starts at 7 pm, with the Quatro music band hitting the stage, followed by singers Zara, Yelena Terleyeva and Dmitry Koldun, as well as participants in the 21st Century Tenors project.

Tsaritsyno Museum-Reserve will have its own Victory Day celebrations from 11 am, with City Department of Culture performers entertaining the crowds. At 1 pm, a city programme involving the Musica Viva Chamber Orchestra, Stas Namin’s Moscow Music and Drama Theatre, the Trombone Show Jazz Ensemble, Alexei Garnizov, the New Ballet Theatre, Svetlana Krinitskaya and the Pyatnitsky State Academic Russian Folk Choir will get underway. At 7 pm, there’ll be another concert in the park involving participants in the 21st Century Tenors project, Yulia Kovalchuk, Alexei Chumakov, Oleg Gazmanov and the Fabrika music band.

From 1 pm, at Yekaterininsky Park there’ll be things to do throughout the day into the evening hours. Actors and actresses from the Praktika Theatrical Centre, the Kaskadyor Theatre of Spectacular Sport Performances and other performers will roam the main stage. Russian pop stars will perform as of 7 pm. The concert runs until 10 pm.

At the Troparyovo recreational zone there’ll be yet another concert from 12.25 pm. Mikhail Shchepenko’s Moscow Theatre of Russian Drama will be the first to perform, followed by actors and actresses from the Pokrovka Theatre, Gennady Chikhachyov’s Moscow State Musical Theatre, the Drama Art School Theatre, the Community of Taganka Actors Theatre, actor Vasily Ovsyannikov and actress Lyubov Isayeva. Diana Gurtskaya, Ruslan Alekhno, Gleb Matveichuk and singer Zara will join the show later on.

Victory Train to depart from three railway stations’ squares

The Railway Stations of Victory concert programme is scheduled for 9 May on three railway stations’ squares. Mikhail Turetsky’s Soprano Art Group is to start performing at Rizhsky Railway Station bright and early at 8 am. At 8.50 am everyone present will lay wreaths near a monument at a local museum.

From 10 am, the military parade will be broadcast at Kazansky Railway Station, and an interactive film concert is to begin at 2 pm. The Official Band of the Russian Ministry for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Disaster Relief will strike up at 3 pm, followed by the Turetsky Choir and the Soprano Art Group from 4 pm.

From 10 am, the military parade will also be broadcast at Belorussky Railway Station, with actor Igor Mirkurbanov entertaining audiences at 6 pm.

The Immortal Regiment event is to begin near Belorussky Railway Station at 3 pm, with city residents carrying portraits of their relatives who fought in the Great Patriotic War towards Red Square.

At 9 am, war veterans together with others will start boarding the Victory Train at Rizhsky Railway Station, and the train will depart at 9.30 am.

At Zelenograd a concert will start at 1 pm, with actor Damir Basyrov and the Respublika music band performing there. After a moment of silence, pop singers will hit the stage at 7 pm.