What's on in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia through the year

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

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Volga and Oka freeze (5 Dec – 25 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

  5 Feb – 20 Mar · usuallyMajor festival

  Butter week before Lent: blini stalls, tug-of-war and a straw effigy burned at the end of it, held on the kremlin square and out at the open-air museum. The date follows Orthodox Easter, so it moves by a month. Source ↗

Still on: Volga and Oka freeze (5 Dec – 25 Mar (usually))

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

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: Maslenitsa (5 Feb – 20 Mar (usually)), Volga and Oka freeze (5 Dec – 25 Mar (usually))

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

Nothing new starts in April.

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

• Season

  Volga cruise season

  1 May – 5 Oct · usuallySummer season opens

  The Moscow-to-Astrakhan cruise boats call here for a day each once the ice has gone, and the local river trams and hydrofoils run on the same window. Out of season the river terminal is shut and the embankment is a walk, not a departure.

• Holiday

  Victory Day

  8–10 MayNational holidayClosuresCrowded

  9 May is the biggest civic day of the Russian year: a parade, closed central streets, and fireworks off the Strelka where the two rivers meet. The city takes the whole first third of May as a run of holidays. Source ↗

Busy — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in June.

Still on: Volga cruise season (1 May – 5 Oct (usually))

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

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Volga cruise season (1 May – 5 Oct (usually))

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: Volga cruise season (1 May – 5 Oct (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Volga cruise season (1 May – 5 Oct (usually))

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

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Volga cruise season (1 May – 5 Oct (usually))

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

Nothing new starts in November.

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

• Season

  Volga and Oka freeze

  5 Dec – 25 Mar · usuallyIce season

  Both rivers set at the confluence below the kremlin, the boats stop, and ice fishermen dot the white from the Strelka downstream. The cable car over to Bor keeps running, which is the only way to be out over the ice.

• Holiday

  New Year holidays

  31 Dec – 8 JanNational holidayClosuresCrowded

  Russia takes the first week of January off entirely: offices and many small places shut, the trains and flights are full, and the ice town and rink on Minin Square are where the city actually is. Museums keep short holiday hours. Source ↗