What's on in Moscow, Russia through the year

Quiet — travelers describe it as quiet, New Year holidays

• Festival

  Epiphany ice bathing

  18–19 JanMajor festival

  On the night of 18 January crosses are cut into the ice on the ponds and the river and queues form to go under three times. The city sets up heated tents and an ambulance at each site. Source ↗

Still on: Outdoor skating rinks open (25 Nov – 10 Mar (usually)), New Year holidays (31 Dec – 8 Jan)

Quiet — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

• Festival

  Maslenitsa

  16–22 FebCarnival

  Pancake week before Lent, with street kitchens in the parks and a straw effigy burned on the Sunday. It is the one week of winter the city deliberately spends outdoors. Source ↗

Still on: Outdoor skating rinks open (25 Nov – 10 Mar (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Season

  The thaw

  10 Mar – 25 Apr · usuallyOff-season shutdown

  Six weeks of grey slush, when the snow goes dirty, the pavements are ankle-deep by midday and frozen again by evening. The parks are unusable and the city looks its worst; the rates say so too. Source ↗

Still on: Maslenitsa (16–22 Feb), Outdoor skating rinks open (25 Nov – 10 Mar (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 6 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: The thaw (10 Mar – 25 Apr (usually))

Busy — Victory Day, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  Dacha season

  1 May – 31 AugSchool holidays

  From May anyone with a plot outside town is on it at weekends. The Friday traffic out of the city is the worst of the week and the centre is unusually calm until Sunday night. Source ↗

• Holiday

  Victory Day

  4–9 MayMajor festivalClosuresCrowded

  The parade on 9 May shuts the centre, and the night rehearsals in the week before it close Tverskaya and the inner ring. Central metro stations are closed on the day at short notice. Source ↗

• Hazard

  Poplar fluff

  25 May – 25 Jun · usuallyPollen season

  For two or three weeks the city fills with white seed fluff off the poplars planted after the war: drifts of it in the gutters, in your eyes, and a fortnight of misery for anyone with hay fever. Source ↗

Busy — Russia Day, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

• Holiday

  Russia Day

  12 JunNational holidayClosures

  A public holiday on 12 June with concerts in the centre and a fireworks finish, and the start of the summer pattern where the city empties towards the dachas for any long weekend. Source ↗

Still on: Dacha season (1 May – 31 Aug), Poplar fluff (25 May – 25 Jun (usually))

Quiet — travelers describe it as quiet, school holidays in 7 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Dacha season (1 May – 31 Aug)

Busy — school holidays in 7 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Dacha season (1 May – 31 Aug)

Peak crowds — City Day, Moscow Marathon

• Festival

  City Day

  1–10 Sep · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  Moscow's birthday, marked on the first weekend of September with concerts and street closures across the centre and fireworks from a dozen points at once. Source ↗

• Festival

  Moscow Marathon

  26–27 SepMajor festivalClosuresCrowded

  A September Sunday with the course along the embankments and past Luzhniki, which shuts the river roads through the centre for the morning. Tens of thousands start it. Source ↗

Shoulder season — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in October.

Shoulder season — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Opening

  Outdoor skating rinks open

  25 Nov – 10 Mar · usuallyIce season

  Gorky Park, VDNKh and Red Square freeze their rinks from late November and keep them going until the thaw. It is the main reason to be outdoors in the coldest months. Source ↗

Busy — New Year holidays, school holidays in 7 of the markets that fill it

• Holiday

  New Year holidays

  31 Dec – 8 JanChristmas & New YearClosuresCrowded

  The country stops for the first eight days of January. Offices, most services and a good share of restaurants close, and the lit squares and the skating rinks are what is left running. Source ↗

Still on: Outdoor skating rinks open (25 Nov – 10 Mar (usually))