Day of St Petersburg

May  27-29, 2011

The Day of the City is truly a “holiday” for all St. Petersburg inhabitants and guests. According to the legend on this day Peter the Great had laid down the Peter and Paul’s Fortress, which became the first brick and stone building of the new city.

This year St. Petersburg will be celebrating its 308th anniversary for 3 days – from May 27 to May 29. There will be lots of various events at different parts of the city. On May 27 at 22:50 grandiose colorful fireworks will attract thousands of observers at the Spit of the Vasilyevsky Island.

Besides traditional events, the citizens and guests of St. Petersburg will see a number of interesting novelties. On May 28 an ancient ship will be carried along Nevsky prospect, a day later it will sail among other 20 historic Finnish steam vessels, all of them are over 100 years old. 12 ships had served in pre-revolutionary Russia as ferryboats, taking people across the Neva River. By the way, the smallest ship is just 5.5 meters long.

On Saturday (May 28) Nevsky prospect from Anichkov bridge to Palace square will turn into a pedestrian zone with 3 covered stages and 5 podiums offering different kinds of performances. A spectacular carnival will start with the rally of bikers and rollers. Clowns and other circus performers from more than 20 countries will take part in this procession, followed by a parade of the marching brass bands.

Palace square will turn into a huge concert hall at the open air. A famous French circus will show its performances on several stages.

The interactive program “St. Petersburg Universe” will start at 2 p.m., each stage will be seen even from far away, because above each of them there will be a large balloon, signifying some particular planet – a planet of water, a planet of flowers, etc. There will be a performance of the Belgian group «Saxafond», a feast of ice cream, a boat regatta, an international competition in curling, Jazz Festival and lots of other interesting evens. Don’t forget to go to the Mikhailovsky Garden, where the “Imperial Gardens of Russia” International Festival will go on.

I’m sure, that those who happen to be in the city on this day will enjoy every single moment of the holiday program.