Summer season opens in Moscow on 1 May

On 1 May, celebrations will begin in Moscow parks to mark the start of the summer season. Outdoor cafes and sports equipment rentals will reopen, dance and yoga classes will begin, and summer film screenings, festivals and concerts will resume.

In Babushkinsky Park, the celebration of the new season will coincide with the park’s anniversary. Yuta, a singer, will perform in Zelyony Theatre, followed by the first film screening this year.

Between 1 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., visitors are invited to exhibition Ancient Chinese recreational gymnastics and yoga classes, step dance and ballroom dancing classes, Nordic walking, floorball and table tennis. The Retro Fest programme will be offered to senior guests while the younger generation can participate in the My Favourite Park drawing contest. Children will also read Beatrix Potter’s stories and learn how to make Tilda toys.

The summer season in Goncharovsky Park will begin with a creative photo exhibition, “The Park in Faces,” with professional portraits of park visitors. A photo lab with photography workshops will be open for visitors between noon and 5 p.m., and participants will receive a mini photo album.

A festival of Latin American music and dance, headlined by dancer Yevgeny Papunaishvili, will take place in Krasnaya Presnya Park. Children can attend workshops to make Hawaiian beads, accessories and brightly coloured skirts; they can learn to play traditional musical instruments, play in a percussion band and learn how to do tricks. A carnival at 6 p.m. will be the festival’s highlight.

A street magic festival will take place in Kuzminki Park, with mimes, street magicians, jugglers and stilt-walkers. Finalists and stars of the Surprise Me! show will perform on the main stage along with Russia’s most famous magicians, the Safronov brothers. Aspiring magicians will learn tricks in a wizardry school.

Lianozovsky Park will become a replica of central Moscow on 1 May, with its own Red Square, Manezh and Bolshoi Theatre. A copy of the Luzhniki Stadium’s play field will host a street basketball game.

In Perovsky Park, visitors can learn to make motivational posters and cook seasonal food. Popular artists, including Vlad Sokolovsky, Cornelia Mango and the Lege Artis Irish folk dance company, will perform at a concert.

Another concert will take place in Fili Park. Guests can watch children’s dancing and singing, freestyle dancing groups and an extreme cycling show.

Bauman Garden invites visitors to get closer to nature. Guests are free to have picnics and visit the organic food market and a natural fabric clothes fashion show. Children can learn to make origami, draw sand pictures and paint rocks. Visitors can play board games or take part in a chess game.

Izmailovsky Park will also open the summer season with a picnic. From noon to 6 p.m.an organic food market and cooking classes will be available. Visitors are welcome to do sport, take part in a dinosaur hunting archaeological quest, and enjoy live statues and a concert.

The Hermitage Garden will host the Fresh Energy sports and arts festival. The events include spray paint art, a comic book exhibition, a rap battle and break dance contest, dancing classes, a photowalk, table football and outdoor games.

A mass kiting event will take place in Severnoye Tushino Park. Visitors can bring their own kites or make them on the park’s main square. The festival’s special guests, Sunstroke Project, will perform their hits to saxophone and digital violin music.

Muzeon Park will hold the 2nd International Marching Orchestra Festival, an event that proved very popular last year. The summer season will open with a film screening and a dance night.

The Velo & Segway Show interactive festival will take place in Sokolniki Park on 1 May as part of the New Style 1 May event.

Bicycle lanes and rentals will be set up on the park’s Festival Square. Other entertainment includes retro bicycle and eco-friendly vehicle exhibitions. Contributors to the Moscow cycling industry will speak at the VeloLectorium.

The interactive VeloImaginarium pavilion will display 30 bicycles with unusual control tools. Visitors are welcome to have a test ride. Other unconventional bicycle-based vehicles, including the Sobaka bicycle car and the Kozma Prutkov bicycle bast shoe, will be cruising around the park.

Gorky Park and Tagansky Park also offer a festival programme.