What's on in Yakutsk, Russia through the year

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

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Deep winter (20 Nov – 5 Mar (usually)), Lena ice road (15 Dec – 15 Apr (usually))

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

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Deep winter (20 Nov – 5 Mar (usually)), Lena ice road (15 Dec – 15 Apr (usually))

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

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: Deep winter (20 Nov – 5 Mar (usually)), Lena ice road (15 Dec – 15 Apr (usually))

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

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Lena ice road (15 Dec – 15 Apr (usually))

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

Nothing new starts in May.

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

• Season

  Lena boat season

  1 Jun – 30 Sep · usuallySummer season opens

  The ferry restarts and the boats to the Lena Pillars run for about four months — the only way to reach the rock columns upstream, a full day each way. Everything on the river is timed against the freeze that ends it.

• Season

  Mosquito season

  5 Jun – 5 Aug · usuallyInsect season

  The thaw turns the permafrost surface into standing water and the taiga produces mosquitoes in clouds. Head nets are sold in supermarkets, not outdoor shops, which tells you what the summer is like away from the wind.

• Festival

  Ysyakh

  18 Jun – 1 Jul · usuallyMajor festivalCrowdedBook early

  The Sakha midsummer festival, held on a field outside town on the last weekend of June: kumys drunk from carved cups, circle dancing that runs all night, wrestling and horse racing. Tens of thousands come and beds are gone well ahead. Source ↗

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

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Lena boat season (1 Jun – 30 Sep (usually)), Mosquito season (5 Jun – 5 Aug (usually)), Ysyakh (18 Jun – 1 Jul (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: Lena boat season (1 Jun – 30 Sep (usually)), Mosquito season (5 Jun – 5 Aug (usually))

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

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Lena boat season (1 Jun – 30 Sep (usually))

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

• Closure

  No crossing at freeze and break-up

  15 Oct – 10 Dec · usually

  For several weeks each autumn, and again in May, the Lena carries loose ice: too broken for the ferry, too thin to drive on. The highway east simply stops, and hovercraft or a flight is the only way across. Source ↗

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

• Season

  Deep winter

  20 Nov – 5 Mar · usuallyExtreme cold

  The coldest city of its size anywhere, built on permafrost with its buildings up on piles and its pipes above ground. Cars are left running outside shops, phones die in minutes, and the fog you see is the town's own breath.

Still on: No crossing at freeze and break-up (15 Oct – 10 Dec (usually))

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

• Opening

  Lena ice road

  15 Dec – 15 Apr · usuallyIce season

  There is no bridge over the Lena anywhere in Sakha, so once the ice is thick enough the river becomes the road and the trucks run supplies out over it. Driving on a marked lane across a kilometres-wide river is ordinary here. Source ↗

Still on: No crossing at freeze and break-up (15 Oct – 10 Dec (usually)), Deep winter (20 Nov – 5 Mar (usually))