On
Saturday 13 January 2007 the third Russian Winter Festival – a free event
offering a wonderful taste of Russia to children and adults alike – will
take place on Trafalgar Square. It marks Russia’s ‘Old New Year’
– New Year according to the Tsarist calendar which was used prior to 1917,
and which is still celebrated in Russia in mid-January.
The Festival brings Russian music, dance and song – and even snow! –
to the heart of London. The Suvorovsky Ensemble of the Military and Music Academy
of the Ministry of Defence – originally set up as a second Moscow school
for the Red Army – will perform, as will folk groups including Pelageya
and Russian Song and some of Russia’s most contemporary artists such as
Ranetki and Tokio. The Russian pop legend Garik Sukachiov will be making a headline
performance. Other attractions include the Moscow State Children's Puppet Theatre,
children’s art workshop craft stalls and traditional Russian food.
The St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow, Russia, being recreated in ice in London
The famous Moscow Cathedral in Trafalga Square
London's Big Ben in ice in Pushkin Square, Moscow
Russian
Winter Festival
Event Venue: Trafalgar Square – Event Date: 13.01.2007 – Event Time:
11:00 to 18:30 – Event Cost: Free.
Ice Chess event
We are organising the world’s first international large-scale Ice Chess
game between London and Moscow to launch the third annual Russian Winter Festival
in London.
Chess pieces made of ice
The ice chess battle takes place next Thursday 11 January between 8am and 9am
in Trafalgar Square in London, and simultaneously via live satellite link in
Pushkin Square, Moscow. The aim is to stage the world’s first international
ice chess game to celebrate the close business and cultural links between Russia
and London as well as highlight the forthcoming annual Russian Winter Festival
in London’s Trafalgar Square.
A London team and a Russian team, each captained by a chess grandmaster, will
battle it out on two large-scale 64 square metre chess boards in each capital
city, using giant chess pieces carved out of ice. The chess figures measuring
over a meter in height will be especially carved for the event, with selected
pieces sculpted in the shape of famous London and Moscow landmarks.
British chess champion, Grandmaster Nigel Short will captain
the London team comprising of Peter Ackroyd and 8-year-old child prodigy Darius
Parvizi-Wayne, while the former World Champion and chess legend Anatoly
Karpov will captain the Russian team. Both Nigel and Anatoly will advise
their teams on each move and will attempt to guide their players to victory,
while spectators in London and Moscow can watch the players’ every move
in each city thanks to a live satellite link.
