Cultural life and leisure
At all seasons of the year Veliky Novgorod welcomes guests with marry-making, fun, amusement and interesting events. Here festivals of folklore and crafts, children's theatres and national culture, the Cossack choruses and military-historical clubs, a bell holiday, motor rally take place. In spring pupils and students from ancient Russian and foreign cities gather for the piano contest named after Rakhmaninov S.V. and in autumn professional bell ringers and church choruses invite connoisseurs of a sacred music to the real spiritual art holiday.
During festivals the city blooms up completely - frosty Christmas, Shrove-tide, warmed by the sun, pancakes and heady medovoukha (honey ale) and first summer festival "Sadko", where you can see real old-Russian folklore, communicate with carriers of traditions of the Novgorod region, weave a basket from withe and even try to weave a rug or decorate a linen towel with an embroidery. And in the midsummer we advise you to go to the Ilmen-lake bank, where Ivan Kupala Day is celebrated on the night of July, 6, being a quaintly mixture of principles of Christian Russia and ancient customs of Pagan Russia.
Numerous folk music groups are also popular with local residents and visitors. They do not only take an active part in festive actions, but also present you performances on demand that allows you to get acquainted with folk Russian music, to take pleasure in beauty of pagan and orthodox ceremonies.
In Veliky Novgorod the future of tourist industry is considered to be with event-trigger tourism. That's why they keep thinking out new colorful enthralling holidays.
Novgorod Academic Drama Theatre named after F. Dostoevsky has been mentioned in the documents since 1853 when thanks to Nikolay Ivanov, a well-known in the mid 19th c. impresario, a room of a merchant's house was specially re-equipped and re-designed a la theatre and regular pay performances were held over there during the whole season. The most well-known actors and actresses used to gather together in the troupe, quite often even "theatre stars" from the capital played in the performances.
The Theatre for Children and the Youth "Maly" was founded in 1990.
It's located in former metropolitan's apartments that are monuments of the architecture of 17th - 19th cc. The area of a stage is 240 square meters; an auditorium seats 628 people. The hall is equipped with professional light, sound and scenic equipment that allows arranging various concert programs of classical music, high-level ballet and theatrical performances. There is a small hall (200 seats) for holding chamber music concerts. The Regional Philharmonic Concert Hall has its own arts groups: classical ballet theatre, a chamber orchestra, the folk music and song group "Novgorod mosaic", the group "Otrada".
An orchestra of Russian folk instruments was established in February 2001. In May 2004 by order of Committee of culture and tourism of Novgorod region it was named after its creator V.G. Babanov. He was teaching in Novgorod musical college and found the school of playing folk instruments in Novgorod region before that.
The Brass Band of Veliky Novgorod was formed in 1949 under the Kremlin Culture and Entertainment Park. In 1980 a new Jazz orchestra "Novgorod" was based on the Brass Band. Since 1994 the orchestra has worked under the Municipal Government of Veliky Novgorod.
The Novgorod City Palace of Culture was opened in 1967 as the Culture Center of Trade Unions, named after the 50th anniversary of the Great October Events. Since 1993 it has been called the Municipal Culture Center "Novgorod City Palace of Culture". In 2007 it celebrates an anniversary - the 40th working season. Today there are 65 clubs, including over 1000 people of the age 4-75, in the Palace of Culture. 13 collectives have got the rank of "Folk Standard Amateur Art Groups". They are:
… What can be better, than feel yourself as a visitor of a secular interior of 19th century, to enjoy flavoured coffee and soft blinking candlelight ?..
The Music and Culture Center, in 2003 reorganized and based on the Municipal Culture Center "International Children's Festival named after S. Rachmaninov" (1993), aims to promote Rachmaninov's musical heritage.
Accommodates up to 250 people
VIP area for 12 people
Karaoke room for 6-8 people
Parking lot
2 bars
Barmen show, flair bartending
Cocktail menu developed by leading experts from the St. Petersburg Association of Barmen
VIP area for 12 people
Karaoke room for 6-8 people
Parking lot
2 bars
Barmen show, flair bartending
Cocktail menu developed by leading experts from the St. Petersburg Association of Barmen
Welcome to DJ-party involving progressive DJs of Veliky Novgorod, Saint-Petersburg and some other Russian cities and towns and abroad.
A consort "Otrada" was formed in 1999. Its repertoire includes popular Russian songs and romances, original instrumental alterations of Russian, Gipsy tunes and foreign smash hits (Beatles, Abba etc). Many countries around the World are delighted with the voice (baritone) of Vladimir Ustinov, a soloist of the consort.
Novgorod Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra "Camerata Anima" was founded in March, 1994 as a professional philharmonic group. It was Natalia Vinogradova, its permanent art director and conductor, who decided to form this orchestra. Today it consists of twenty musicians, playing violins, cellos and double-basses.
The museum was founded on May 4, 1865 by a motion Nikolay G. Bogoslovsky, a priest, scientist, archeologist, and the secretary of Novgorod Province Statistical Committee.
"Kudesy" - musicians and singers, actors and teachers, pupils and their parents - modern keepers of traditional national culture of the Novgorod land. "Kudesy" made discoveries in study of folklore, formed the richest folklore and ethnographic archive, recreated holidays of the Nov-gorod national calendar: Christmas-tide, Pancake week, Easter, Trinity, Ivan Kupala Day.
The museum is located in the Nuns' block of the non-functioning Desyatinny convent - the architectural monument of 14th c. - right in the centre of the city. Till 1994 it hosted the workshops of icon painters, wood-carvers, artists and potters.
It was based on the NovgorodMuseum in the context of the program "Museum and Rising Generation" in 2000.
The Historical Ethnographical Centre "Slavonic Circle" has been based on the "City Centre of Culture and Leisure named after N. Vasiliev".
The Novgorod Folklore Theatre "Krugovina" combines people who are not indifferent to traditions and culture of the ancient Novgorod Land. The members of "Krugovina" try to revive songs, dances, rites and customs that used to be prevailing at the Novgorod Land as an integral part of peoples' lives.
Folk Art Centre, formed in 1945, is located on the territory of St. Nicola - Belsky monastery, an architectural monument of 14th c.
In 1998 the Novgorod Center of Living History was formed as the Club of Historical Reconstruction and Modeling, named "Tchorny Vepr". It is the combination of scientific historical information and pedagogical achievements of the Center's members that helped in creating the concept of "living history", including science-based reconstruction of material world and elements of Novgorodians' spiritual culture of the latter half of 10th c.
"Scientific Restoration Workshop "Freska" was established in September, 1998. The workshops are in one of the reconstructed buildings of the "Bohemia" complex, the monument of industrial architecture of 19th - 20th cc. in the historical part of the city. The workshop does teaching and provides work experience internship for students of Arts and Restoration departments of universities, colleges and high schools from Moscow, St.-Petersburg, other cities and towns of Russia, the Baltic states, Germany, the USA.
The organization unites over 90 artists, incl. 2 national ones and 4 honoured, as well as winners decorated with silver and gold by the Arts Academy of Russia.
Vladimir Yarysh has been doing birch-bark weaving for 25 years already. For 15 years he has been teaching birch-bark weaving skills for children and adults. He has established his own studio "Novgorod Birch-Bark" to study, preserve and pass this amazing craft to the next generations. The studio can be found in the Novgorod city Centre of Culture.
Elena V. Gorbunova - Grebennikova was born in Yaroslavl (Russia). She finished Palekh art school named after M. Gorky in 1988 and since then she has lived and worked in Veliky Novgorod. In 2001 Elena entered the Union of Artists of Russia, the International Association of Art UNESCO. She has participated in a number of all-Russian and International exhibitions, incl. orthodox ones in Zadar (Croatia), Mondovi (Italy), Yaroslavl (Russia), Moscow (Russia), Veliky Novgorod (Russia).
The art-project "Theatre of Fire "Falkor" is a group of young people making LED, fire and pyrotechnic shows, participating in major events and celebrations of the city and the region, having won the First International Fire Festival "EASTFIRE FESTIVAL". The theatre offer entertaining programs suitable for any events, incl. corporate parties, celebrations, open-air, presentations.
Novgorod historical and ethnographical club "Rhat" began its activity from 1996. Originally it was conceived as a place of meeting of the persons who are interested in old-Russian history, traditions, but during some time it had turned to club in which the main attention is given to old-Russian military culture in all its manifestations.
The Center of Musical Antiquities carries out a scientific program on restoring forms and sounding of ancient musical instruments, dated by 10th - 15th cc, whose the evidences have been found by archeologists in an old part of Veliky Novgorod. The treasury of European and World importance, a central base of first-primary sources of the Russian people's musical past, has been formed here. A restorer and painter Vladimir Povetkin, an honored worker of culture, is the founder and the director of the Center.
Being a member of the Union of Artists of Russia and the UNESCO International Association of Art, an honoured cultural worker of the Russian Federation, Galina Kizhapkina has participated in over 50 exhibitions in Russia and abroad (Germany, China). She has also held 15 persona exhibitions.
Sviatoslav Tarasov, the artist and potter, and Ekaterina Kitaeva, the leader of the studio, has developed a new clay-toy making technique. Anyone can easily participate in master-classes and get a toy made him/herself as the best souvenir from Veliky Novgorod. The game conversation "Tales all about the earthenware pot" lets to get to know lots on clay as a natural material, on the traditional ceremonial usage of earthenware crockery in old-Russia, on a number of secrets and mysteries of clay, etc. as the earthenware pot does tell the stories.
Formed in 1992, the Centre of Traditional Culture "Parasceva" is in the old part of the city, close to the Yaroslav the Wise. The Centre is named after St. Parasceva the Friday that has always been worshipped as the patroness of fancy-work and the guardian of family happiness. Today we do really need to get to know national culture. Masters of our generation have preserved the historical memory, and passed on to us folklore, traditions and crafts. The Centre aims making children get interested in folk arts, teaching them various methods and techniques of doing arts and crafts that used to be known in every single peasant family as essential ones in daily life.
Are you ready to set forth onto an enthralling trip back to the times when our planet was populated by dinosaurs and take your kid with you? Then, welcome to DinoLand!
Members of the theatre “Gesture” are the students from the special schools for hearing-impaired children and the school for the disabled “Tsvetik-Semitsvetik”.