Where: The Museum of Wooden Architecture in Suzdal

Time: Every year on Forgiveness Sunday (the last day before Lent)

Shrovetide Fun, or the Maslenitsa Festival, is an especially bright and merry holiday in Suzdal. The Vladimir and Suzdal Museum organizes a number of exciting events, including goose fights, which have become one of Suzdal’s many calling cards. Since 2004 the festival has been held in Suzdal’s Museum of Wooden Architecture.

Visitors to the festival can participate in traditional games and Russian carnival traditions. These include climbing up the Maslenitsa pole, a pancake-eating contest, and the famous storm of the snow fortress. On the grounds of the museum, Russian epic heroes and medieval knights (members of historical reconstruction clubs) face off again in bloodless fights. At a master class, visitors can make a traditional doll-amulet—a small replica of the Maslenitsa. Unlike the big Maslenitsa doll, which is always burnt at the climax of the festival, according to Russian tradition, the souvenir one can be kept at home for years, remembering your lucky days in Suzdal.

No Maslenitsa celebration is complete without music. The concert program of the Maslenitsa Festival includes performances by the best folk groups from Suzdal and the Vladimir area, as well as from other regions. There are special contests, games, and puppet shows, which are usually organized for children with the participation of Petrushka – the main character of old Russian puppet shows.

Location: The Museum of Wooden Architecture in Suzdal

Time: Annually, on the 50th day after Easter (a Sunday in May or June)

Already a 30-year-old tradition, The Festival of Folk Crafts brings blacksmiths, embroiderers, and potters to Suzdal from all over Russia. Visitors can learn how a basket is born from straw in the hands of a skillful craftsman, or how a miraculous flower is embroidered on a canvas; they can even learn some of the secrets of traditional Russian folk arts themselves.

The best bands and dance groups of the Vladimir area are invited to Suzdal for the festival, treating visitors to Russian folk music and songs.

Children are always special guests at the festival—they can participate in master classes on making birch bark dolls and watch puppet shows in the open-air theatre. The most dexterous and skillful children take part in the ancient Russian Gorodki game.

The climax of the festival is always the performance of one of Vladimir’s traditional women’s rituals. Just like many centuries ago, a small, beautifully dressed girl passes over the path of the crossed arms of other young women. She picks a spike of wheat from the field and lays it at the door of the church. This is how Russian peasants prayed for a good harvest in the old times. 

Location: Suzdal, the Monastery of the Saviour and St. Euthymius

Time: Annually, on August 19th

The Apple Feast of the Saviour* in Suzdal is worth visiting not only for its religious traditions but also for the extensive and interesting festive program organized by the staff of the Vladimir and Suzdal Museum. Guests of the festival are offered a traditional garden-fruit fair, various master classes, fascinating folk-music concerts, and the unforgettable performance of the Blagovest male a capella choir.

Every year, after a festive service in the Cathedral of the Transfiguration with the blessing of August fruits, the procession to the former Abbot's garden begins. The former Abbot’s garden is the setting of the festival of spiritual and folk music, and includes a stage and spectators' seats.

This musical and theatrical performance takes place on the grounds of the ancient Monastery of the Saviour and St. Euthymius included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, making for an unforgettable celebration.

The holiday program is sure to leave a fun and vivid impression. Children and adults learn to make folk toys and paint ceramic plates and cups at the master classes, and young spectators always enjoy the puppet show.

The Apple Feast of the Saviour is a harvest festival. Tourists and museum visitors have the opportunity to buy goods and souvenirs. Here you can taste and buy some fragrant Suzdal honey, fruits from local gardens, hand-made leather goods, wooden and ceramic toys, and traditional clothes from different regions of Russia.

Location: The Museum of Wooden Architecture in Suzdal

Time: International Cucumber Festival

The International Cucumber Festival in the open-air is visited by thousands of tourists from different countries and all regions of Russia. Each year the event becomes more diverse and memorable.

One of the main features of the festival is the competition for Best Cucumber of the Russian Land. Every festival attendee has the chance to participate in the competition by voting for one of the three cucumber candidates. Voters make their decision based on a number of cucumber-related games such as Cucumber Tetris, fortune-telling with Cucumbers, Greenhouse Arts, and more.

Location: The Museum of Wooden Architecture in Suzdal

Time: Annually, on Christmas (January 7th)

The Vladimir and Suzdal Museum’s annual Christmas celebration recreates the Christmas celebrations of the olden times. The celebration takes place amidst authentic log houses, creaking windmills, wooden churches, wells, and barns. People sing and dance to the sounds of original Russian musical instruments—the dancing is infectious. Visitors sing Christmas carols and folk songs. Open-air performances take place every hour. Visitors can play a tug-of-war game, fight in a straw sack battle, or walk on stilts. Children are the special guests of the festival: they play traditional Russian games and have fun with Petrushka, the main character of old Russian puppet shows. There are a number of performances for kids, as well as the chance to make a Christmas souvenir at a magic master class. 

Once you spend your Christmas in Suzdal, you’ll want to come back to enjoy old-time Russia and try Suzdal’s famous mead!