Moscow City Day - 2024: what date, date, program of events, playbill, concerts, fireworks

“I love you, Moscow” – the day will come very soon when it is simply necessary to confess one’s sympathy for the city. In honor of the 877th birthday of the capital a large-scale holiday will be arranged: the program of events, sites, installations and performances have been prepared for a long time. The spectators have only to have time to see as much as possible.

Table of Contents

History of the holiday

According to the age of Moscow, it is easy to guess that for a historical reference we will have to plunge into the distant past. The city was first mentioned in the Ipatiev Chronicle in 1147. But then it was not a tradition to organize a holiday for the townspeople every year.

For the first time they celebrated the anniversary in 1847, when Moscow turned 700 years old. In honor of this round date, bells rang throughout the city, and the main attractions – the Kremlin, the monument to Minin and Pozharsky, Moscow University, the Novodevichy Monastery and the governor’s house on Tverskaya Street – were illuminated with illuminations.

After that the holiday had to be forgotten for another hundred years. In 1947 not only fireworks were timed to the City Day, but also the beginning of construction of “Stalin’s” high-rise buildings. Regularly celebrate City Day in Moscow began only after 1997.

When will City Day be held?

The holiday is not timed to a specific historical event, so the date changes from year to year. The mayor signs a decree with the exact days, usually the first or second weekend of September is chosen to honor the capital.

In 2024, City Day is set for Sept. 7 and 8. On Saturday, the grounds will be open to the public from 12:00 to 21:00 and on Sunday from 15:00 to 20:00. Residents and visitors will have a rich program, which we will tell you about below.

Main venues

Moscow stretches more than 2500 square kilometers, and, of course, the holiday can not do with one site. Here is the list of the main places where the events will take place:

Tsvetnoy Boulevard and landscape park on Paveletskaya Square (Central Administrative District);
Poklonnaya Gora (ZAO);
Cosmonauts Alley and Babushkinsky Park (SVAO);
Izmailovsky Park (VAO);
Pechatniki Park (Southeast Administrative District);
Museum-reserves “Tsaritsyno” and “Kolomenskoye” (SAO);
children’s landscape park “Yuzhnoe Butovo” (South-West Administrative District);
sites in the districts of Solntsevo and Novo-Peredelkino (ZAO);
Mitino Landscape Park (North-West Administrative District);
Central Square in Zelenograd (Zelenograd district);
sites in Troitsk and Moskovsky settlement (TINAO).

Interesting events

To visit all the events at once will not be possible, because so many people and organizations want to congratulate their favorite city. Here is a selection of the most colorful, sporting and large-scale events, one of them will definitely interest you.

“Territory of the Future. Moscow-2030”

This forum-festival will cover several sites of the capital at once: “Zaryadye”, “Museon”, “Manezh”, Gostiny Dvor and “Luzhniki”. Exhibitions, musical performances, gastronomic delights and, of course, sports – all this awaits visitors.

Let’s dwell a little more on the opportunity to spend the weekend actively. In “Museon” you can ride on an artificial wave, do yoga in hammocks, train on a vorkout platform, ride on sapas and even fly in an aerotube.

Luzhniki” is not lagging behind, everyone will be able to find sports entertainment for themselves: from beach volleyball to chess and Frisbee, skateboarding and rock climbing. Also there will be an exhibition of special equipment of city services, where about 100 units of modern road-building, municipal and rescue vehicles will be presented. And one should not miss the opportunity to take part in an open training from a master of sports in rhythmic gymnastics. And for those who do not want activity yet, the duo Bahh Tee & Turken and Vanya Dmitrienko will perform on the territory of the complex.

City Day at VDNKh

The main exhibition of the country always amazes with its scale and diversity. And this time they will not change traditions. And to learn more about this place, you can go to the exhibition “VDNKh: City of Dreams. 85 years of the main place of events”. Ecocenter “Floriculture” has prepared its program for the City Day, and it is called “Floral Stories”. Several more author’s excursions will be held in the ATOM Museum.

Let’s divert from the cognitive part of the program and switch to sports. And there is something to say about it, because interesting disciplines have been chosen for competitions: the Moscow Open Cup in Go and a team crossminton tournament will be held at VDNKh.

City Day at the Pushkin Museum

By the established tradition, more than 100 items, including samples of art furniture, rare books, archival materials and decorative and applied arts, will be collected in a separate exhibition at the museum for the City Day. One of the most valuable exhibits will be a portrait of Princess Natalia Golitsina, the authorship of the painting is unknown, but it is based on an original by French artist Louis Gersan from 1824.

Among the exhibits will also be paintings by Vladimir Lapovok and Maryam Saderdinova (series of illustrations for “Queen of Spades” and “Little Tragedies” by Alexander Pushkin), Anatoly Larionov (picturesque views of Mikhailovsky, the family estate of Alexander Pushkin), Anatoly Eliseev (biographical Pushkiniana). You can visit the exhibition until October 6.

“My Sporty Neighborhood”

“My Sporty Neighborhood” – is one of the main projects of the Department of Sports of Moscow, thanks to which tens of thousands of people go out for training on yard and park grounds. In honor of the City Day on 114 sites will be held classes in 13 disciplines.

Everyone will be able to take part, all you have to do is to put on the right clothes and come to the right place. Everyone can find something for themselves: zumba, yoga, wushu, roller sports, soccer, volleyball, running, stretching and several other interesting directions will definitely find a response in your heart.

Technical Sports Festival

A festival will be held at the Technical Sports Center in honor of the City Day. Guests will be able not only to watch the auto race and visit the exhibition, but also to take part in the activities themselves. Try yourself in the drift tournament “Race for Moscow” and try to win one million rubles? Or maybe try to overtake Formula 1 pilot Sergey Sirotkin in a karting race? It won’t be boring, but emotions will definitely go over 100 km/h.

Will there be fireworks?

Large-scale fireworks have become an integral part of a large number of holidays, and many people are looking forward to them. However, this year the fireworks for the Day of the City will not take place. This was announced to TASS by the head of the Department of trade and services Alexei Nemeryuk. Recall, in 2023 the holiday also did without pyrotechnics in order to ensure safety.

Autumn has already begun, and it remains only to catch the last warm days. The best way to do this is to take a stroll around festive Moscow. It seems that many people have already decided on their plans for this weekend, all that’s left is to find the right clothes and plan the route.