We’re so used to City Days that it never occurred to me before that it’s mostly a Russian (post-Soviet) tradition – and not a very old one: the first official City Day in Russia was held in 1947 on Moscow’s 800th anniversary but it became an annual celebration all over the country only in the late 20th century.
This holiday aims to demonstrate each city’s uniqueness, as opposed to the previously prevalent idea of Soviet equality and sameness. However, if you visit several different City Days, you’ll see that they are made up of common activities: there are parades, concerts, markets, exhibitions, performances, competitions, etc. Still, although they might look similar from the outside, they revolve around each city’s history and culture. For example, there might be historical reenactment performances and pavilions with traditional local food and souvenirs.
The culmination of any City Day is fireworks. For this occasion, the roads in the city center are closed for cars – which is an exciting transformation of the urban environment as it is – and the citizens gather together in the evening to enjoy the show and share a beautiful moment of being a part of your local community. To me, this is the best thing about this tradition.
If we take a look at the list of City Days all over Russia, we’ll see that quite often, they take place in summer or in September. This has to do with the fact that, of course, it’s more enjoyable to have an outdoor celebration in summer, plus some places like Veliky Novgorod have their City Days on Russia Day (June 12).
Some other cities arrange City Days on dates associated with another related holiday, like Kazan that holds its City Day on August 30 – the day of the Republic of Tatarstan, or with the day of liberation from fascist invaders, like in Pskov (July 23).
While this year’s St. Petersburg City Day has already passed (on May 27), there are still many upcoming options if you feel like experiencing such a celebration. For example, Moscow will hold its City Day on the first Saturday of September (September 4 in 2021), Nizhny Novgorod – on the third Saturday of August (August 21), Gelendzhik – on the third Sunday of August (August 22), and Smolensk – on September 25.
Among the cities located near St. Pete, there are Vyborg (with City Day on August 19) and Gatchina (second Saturday of September – September 11 in 2021) – something to put on your calendar. However, keep in mind that some COVID-19 restrictions may still be in place.
