Times & Epochs: Live History in Moscow Streets and Parks
In mid-June, Moscow’s boulevards will be filled with people in historical costumes, with their tools and workshops. Don’t be surprised: this is the Times & Epochs festival, which is increasingly popular among both locals and tourists. Historical re-enactment professionals and amateurs from all over Russia and the globe come together to re-create times gone by in the centre of the Russian capital.
The main theme of this year’s festival is the Middle Ages in Europe, with a big venue in Kolomenskoe Park and a grand event, St. George's Tournament. Other locations throughout Moscow, mostly on boulevards, will have highlights from previous festivals.
Visit the festival’s official website for the full map and descriptions. Below is a small selection of some of the venues you might want to check out.
Shipbuilding. From a boat to the Aurora
Kremlevskaya, Prechistenskaya, and Moskvoretskaya embankments
June 7 – 16
Visitors to the festival will learn the history of shipbuilding in the era of sailing and steam fleets. You will be able to see in detail the internal structures of sailing ships, battleships and submarines. Periscopes with unique 3D images of military and civilian ships will be sited along the embankment, enabling viewers to learn more about the discoveries of explorers, colonial commerce and navigation. You can also visit different interactive sites where you can learn seamanship, how to handle sails and help to make a traditional boat.
Posad 9-12th centuries
Nikitsky Boulevard
June 7 – 16
The site is dedicated to the experimental archaeology and crafts of the 9th – 12th centuries from Scandinavia to Asia Minor. It offers classes in basket weaving and stone and wood carving, as well as lectures on birch bark and how to work with it.
Ottoman Empire 16–17th century
19 Tverskoy Boulevard
June 7 – 16
The heyday of the Ottoman Empire. Guests can visit the famous bazaar, drink a cup of coffee made in the traditional way in a chaikhana (a teahouse) and taste amazing sweets. There's the palace of an Ottoman Pasha, complete with his harem. You can also learn some military skills in the camp of the historical Turkish infantry.
The International Exhibition in Paris in 1925
Kamergersky Pereulok
June 7 – 16
Although the International Exhibition of Decorative and Industrial Art lasted only 6 months, it had a significant impact on the development of architecture, fashion and painting of the western world over the next 20 years. Visiting this thematic site, visitors will be able to feel the atmosphere and aesthetics of Art Deco, see the national pavilions of the famous Paris salon, look at merchant houses and their storefronts, take part in fashion shows, have their photos taken in the luxurious interiors of the 1920s and dance at one of Jay Gatsby's parties.
St. George's Tournament
Kolomenskoe Park
June 12 – 16
All competitions and ceremonies in the tournament are held according to the tournament codes of the 15th century and are historically accurate. The 12 best knights from around the world will compete in jousting, melee, fighting with two-handed swords or axes, and other martial skills. There are medieval stalls with attractions and food around the tiltyard.