What's on in Novosibirsk, 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: Ob Sea ice (25 Nov – 10 Apr (usually)), Deep winter cold (10 Dec – 25 Feb (usually)), New Year holidays (31 Dec – 8 Jan)

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

• Festival

  Maslenitsa

  5 Feb – 20 Mar · usuallyMajor festival

  Butter week before Lent, and in a city with this much winter left in March it is the one outdoor party of the cold half of the year: blini, ice slides and a straw effigy burned at the finish. Source ↗

Still on: Ob Sea ice (25 Nov – 10 Apr (usually)), Deep winter cold (10 Dec – 25 Feb (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)), Ob Sea ice (25 Nov – 10 Apr (usually))

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

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Ob Sea ice (25 Nov – 10 Apr (usually))

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

• Season

  Midges, mosquitoes and ticks

  10 May – 20 Jul · usuallyInsect season

  Early summer in the birch forest and along the reservoir is mosquito and blackfly weather, and tick-borne encephalitis is endemic here — locals get vaccinated for it. Repellent and tucked-in trousers are the standard kit, not caution.

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

• Season

  River and beach season

  10 Jun – 25 Aug · usuallySummer season opens

  The short, hot Siberian summer sends the city to the Ob beaches and the reservoir shore at Akademgorodok, and the river boats run for about ten weeks. It closes as abruptly as it opens.

Still on: Midges, mosquitoes and ticks (10 May – 20 Jul (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: Midges, mosquitoes and ticks (10 May – 20 Jul (usually)), River and beach season (10 Jun – 25 Aug (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: River and beach season (10 Jun – 25 Aug (usually))

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

Nothing new starts in September.

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

Nothing new starts in October.

Quiet — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

• Season

  Ob Sea ice

  25 Nov – 10 Apr · usuallyIce season

  The reservoir south of the city freezes hard enough for cars, and the shore fills with ice fishing tents, kite skiers and snowmobiles. Late season ice is the dangerous kind and the drownings make the local news every April. Source ↗

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

• Season

  Deep winter cold

  10 Dec – 25 Feb · usuallyExtreme cold

  The city functions normally through cold spells that would close a European capital: heated underground crossings, engines left running, schools out only at the far end of the scale. Plan indoor time between outdoor time, not the reverse.

• Holiday

  New Year holidays

  31 Dec – 8 JanNational holidayClosuresCrowded

  The country stops for the first week of January. In Siberia that means the ice town on Lenin Square, sledging hills built out of snow, and a lot of shut doors — check opening hours for anything you have flown this far to see. Source ↗

Still on: Ob Sea ice (25 Nov – 10 Apr (usually))