Thread: Russian New Year celebrations in London

Скажите пожалуйста, знает ли кто-то о празнике, находяищийся в Лондоне, Trafalgar Square? Там должна была музыка, как я услышала по радио. Я хочу знать что случился и как было.

Originally Posted by Mandy

Скажите пожалуйста, знает ли кто-то о празнике, находяищийся в Лондоне, Trafalgar Square? Там должна была музыка, как я услышала по радио. Я хочу знать что случился и как было.

Я слышал об этом празднике. О нём говорили в самой главной телевизионной передаче "Время". Видел, что в прошлом году там пела Пелагея. Ну а в этом году подробностей не знаю.

Russian Winter Festival in Trafalgar Square:

http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/russian_ ... /index.jsp

http://www.eventica.co.uk/events/rwf/2007/






PS: Юрка - I love your new avatar!!

Originally Posted by BabaYaga

PS: Юрка - I love your new avatar!!

Это кадры из комедии "Иван Васильевич меняет профессию" (1973 г).

Originally Posted by BabaYaga

PS: Юрка - I love your new avatar!!

Ivan the Terrible!!! =)

Maybe this is a good place to put an article I wrote about the New Year celebrations in St Petersburg.

The metro, at about eleven pm on Monday night, was so dead at Chernishevskaya, that at first glance I thought it was closed. When I got off the train at Gostini Dvor, the metro proved to be far from dead. In fact it was jammed with people on their way to the Palace Square to participate in the New Years Eve festivities. Out on Nevsky there were thousands of people just hanging around by the canal or on the sidewalks watching laser light shows, listening to the dance music that was being broadcast from some type of stage and entertainment system or just watching each other. There were random fire crackers going off, lit by the revelers and police standing in small groups here and there, quietly overseeing the whole thing. There seemed to be some general movement of people along Nevsky towards the River Neva so I allowed myself to drift along the street with them while listening to the sounds of exploding fire crackers, the occasional sky rockets, and shouts of, “Novie Gord!”
Soon I was standing at an entrance to the Palace Square, behind a wall of people, with no place further to go. I stood there for a moment trying to figure out what was happening up ahead inside the Square. A fire cracker exploded beside me with a loud bang, as I walked deeper into the crowd and another one expolded amongst the tightly packed people just ahead of me. I watched the smoke from it wafted up through a group of unfazed party goers, in a blue haze. About then, I realized that if I stood there in that spot much longer, I would have to fight my way through the throngs of people massing up behind me, still arriving, if I wanted to leave. So, I turned around and went out the way I had come in, and following more droves of people, and I arrived at the main entrance to the Palace Square.
In the Square was a stage with a giant TV screen surrounded by huge spotlights. There was music playing and green laser lights were beaming in every direction, up into the sky and out across the crowds and occasionally into my eyes. I walked through the crowd toward the stage as far as I could go, where I was stopped by a portable steel fence placed across the Square with a row of police behind it. There were people inside the fence and around the stage but I am not sure how they qualified to be so close. Just before midnight they broadcast an orchestral piece of music out across the Square. It was one of the most beautiful and surreal things I had experienced in a while. It wasn’t your usual New Years Eve dance, hip hop or rock, feel good party songs. It was quiet and mellow and I could have listened to it all night, against the background of The Hermitage, the lights, the lasers and the night sky.

Then President Putin appeared on the TV screen and gave his talk for what seemed to be about ten minutes, but though some were trying, I don’t think anyone around me could really make out all that he was saying with the shouting and random fireworks being set off. Not to mention, that most people seemed to have brought with them their favorite alcoholic beverages and had been drinking for some time. Then at the stroke of midnight, the firework display was presented by the people who had gathered there at the Square, themselves. Sky rockets went off in all directions from amongst the crowds and exploded in the night sky, not too far above our heads. I saw one or too that shot off horizontally across the crowd and wondered if anyone ever gets injured at these things. This went on for quite some time. I looked around at the people and saw that they were all with their families and their friends. Some were commemorating the moment by taking pictures of each other. I could see mothers and fathers with their children, and girlfriends with their boyfriends and mixed groups of friends, all in good spirits. It was then that I began to realize that I must look odd and stand out of the crowd, to them all. The realization that I was a rare sight at this gathering came upon me because I was something that they were not. Alone. And I began to feel alone, probably for the first time in years. After a few minutes of standing there feeling like a freak I decided to make my way out of the Palace Square in order to have my own New Years celebration at an open bar if I could find one. Which I did.
Russians do know how to have a good time. I showed up in a bar at around 1 am. There weren’t as many people inside as I thought there would be, but there were a few. At about 2 am I thought the place was ready to die for the night…..but I was wrong! People started showing up again and by 3 am it was packed with customers, drinking, dancing, sitting and eating. There were even people dancing on tables! Including a man, stripped to the waist, dancing on a table surrouned with girls. There were still people coming in at 5 in the morning. And I heard later, that people were still coming in at 8 am! But by 6 am, after drinking more shots of smooth Russian vodka than I probably needed to, I decided to end this New Years Eve before I regretted keeping up with these people and walked around the corner to my flat satisfied that I had at least done my part in helping St Petersburg celebrate the new year.

Nice story, DDT! No trace of Father Frost, though? I thought he was a recurring figure on New Years!

Originally Posted by DDT

Maybe this is a good place to put an article I wrote about the New Year celebrations in St Petersburg.

Great story. =) Give us some pics, if any. =)

Originally Posted by Mandy

Скажите пожалуйста, знает ли кто-то о празнике, находяищийся в Лондоне, Trafalgar Square? Там должна была музыка, как я услышала по радио. Я хочу знать что случился и как было.

I went to the first Russian Winter Festival on Trafalgar Square in 2005 and have been every year since. Every year it gets more popular.

In 2005 Глюк'Oza and Dima Bilan performed.
In 2007 Dima Bilan and Tokio performed.
In 2008 Dima Bilan and Fabrika performed.

Near the end of the event I'd say about 90% of the people there are Russians/Russia-speaking.

It's always very busy and a lot of fun.

Thanks, I will certainly be looking out for it next year. It sounds very interesting and obviously quite different from the usual concerts and festivals here.

i wish i was there

Originally Posted by BappaBa

Originally Posted by DDT

Maybe this is a good place to put an article I wrote about the New Year celebrations in St Petersburg.

Great story. =) Give us some pics, if any. =)

Unfortunately the battery was dead in my camera and I found no shops open on Nevsky Ulitsa that night. I was really kicking myself.