This year, on its City Day, a holiday celebrated annually over the first weekend in September, Moscow commemorated its 855th birthday on a large scale. The City Day Holiday, though a comparatively recent holiday, has become extremely popular amongst Muscovites, and it would not be a gross exaggeration to compare its current popularity to that of Brazil's or Venice's carnivals. Every year, increasing numbers of Muscovites participate in the holiday's festivities, joined by lots of tourists who happen to  be  visiting  Moscow. Such  entertainment, outside  the schedule of the usual sightseeing tours, turns out to be a pleasant surprise for many of them. The holiday-related events go on from morning to night, the whole of Moscow turning into one huge concert stage for two days. Much of the city's centre is closed to traffic over the period, becoming a virtual pedestrians’ only zone.

The City Day, this year, coincided with  the beginning of the school year, another  holiday in Russia, usually celebrated in  Moscow in a big way, so many of the  events were devoted to both holidays  simultaneously.

The commemorative events devoted to the city's 855th birthday started on Saturday, August 31, as officials from the Moscow City Government led by Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, together with the deputies of the Moscow City Duma and public rep- resentatives, laid wreaths on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and at the statue of Marshal Georgy Zhukov on Manezhnaya Square.

The official opening ceremony was held in front of the Moscow Mayor's Office, on a square decorated with a huge map of Moscow, made entirely of flowers. The ceremony was attended by the head of the Russian President's administration, the deputies of the State Duma, and officials of the Federal Government.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Yuri Lyzhkov stressed that, in the last few years, the Moscow City Day "has been acquiring the significance of a national holiday," which "is only natural _ insofar as Moscow has always been united with Russia in both her joys as well as her sorrows."

Following a fancy-dress Parade of Flowers, the gigantic flag of Moscow was raised, signaling the start of the festivities.

The most curious event in the opening ceremony may have been the ceremony of public weddings, with the Mayor taking an active part. Ten young couples, arriving in central Moscow in old-fashioned motorcars, were met by the Mayor who handed each of them their marriage certificate and a small barrel of honey from his own beehives.

After the opening ceremony was over, the festivities spilled out    onto Moscow's streets. The main street, Tverskaya, was turned    into a pedestrian area hosting thousands of people. Over 3,000    various holiday events were held throughout the huge city.

As Muscovites often attend the City Day festivities in the company of their families, the overall programme offers a wide variety of entertainments and amusements for all ages: drawing competitions for children, a circus show festival, various open-air concerts on the city's main square or in the parks, etc. Environmentalists also used the occasion to hold an ecological festival, and one political party, in the most festive atmosphere all around, was advertising its programme amongst passersby. It is hardly possible to cover the whole variety of festive activities that took place over those two days.

The programme of sporting events held during the holiday turned out, as usual, to be both interesting and diverse. The Luzhniki Complex hosted a sports festival, in which all comers were offered an opportunity to participate in numerous sporting competitions. A football match of symbolic significance was held, with Moscow city legislators playing against m   Moscow Government officials. The legal team won 3-1.

According to tradition, the Luzhniki Stadium was also the venue of the annual international Mayor's Cup horse races.

On September 1, the winners of the 22nd Moscow International Peace Marathon, one of the world's largest in terms of the number of participants, were announced. The Moscow International Peace Marathon has always been famous for its ability to gather people from all over the globe and this one was no exception: the amateur and professional marathon runners, taking part in it, came from 23 countries. The largest delegation, 250 runners in all, was from Britain. The overall number of the participants exceeded 2,000.

Russian bikers timed their festival to coincide with the City Day, too. Launched within the city, their show was, however, mainly held beyond city limits: no motorbikes were allowed onto the streets of Moscow during the holiday festivities.

Celebrating the beginning of another school year, the parade of Moscow high school students was held on Smolenskaya Square.  The participants marched along the city's Garden Ring and over the Krymsky Bridge to take part in the initiation ceremony of 'freshers' into full studentship, held in Gorky Park's central avenue.

The City Day is always an eventful occasion in terms of celebrating the development of various aspects of the city's everyday life. On this day the city authorities report to the citizens on their achievements by opening new installations, units, projects, etc. Thus, this time, a new multilevel road crossing was opened, connecting the city's two busy thoroughfares, Varshavka and Kashirka roads. The Mayor's Office also took part in opening Galina Vishnevskaya's Operatic Centre. A number of other inauguration ceremonies were also held in the various districts of Moscow, launching new sports facilities, health centers, etc.

The first ever Moscow International Festival of Fireworks, held on the City Day, afforded Muscovites a rare opportunity to see an amazing display, awesome in its beauty, size and light. Up to now, we have regarded salutes and fireworks as a kind of bright and merry supplement to a celebration rather than a celebration in its own right. Now the festival's participants, from various countries, showed their craft to a crowd of thousands. The festival was a large-scale event, using the very latest technological achievements, including lasers, special light effects for open air expanses, fire and water, as well as the usual fireworks.

On its City Day, Moscow entertained 84 official guest delegations from various provinces and regions of Russia as well as from other CIS countries and the Baltic States. Among the official 300 guests were regional leaders, the managers of larger companies and war veterans.

The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, met with Yuri Luzhkov and sent his greetings to all the citizens of Moscow on the occasion of the City Day, wishing them health, wealth and happiness.

“Moscow today and tomorrow” October 2002