Unity Day, though being a, – in great manifestation of the national unity – by a people’s army consisting of all classes of the Russian society.
Civil Unity Day calls for tolerance between various ethnic and religious groups in the Russian Federation. It refers to a critical point in Russian history and honors the liberation of Moscow on November 4, 1612 from the Polish invaders.
However, this newly adopted holiday is perceived by most Russians as a nice occasion to have a long weekend. This year the Civil Unity holidays will last from November 1 to 4.
We Heart Moscow presents the weekend guide for this long November holidays!
HALLOWEEN IN MOSCOW
History of Halloween dates back to the ancient traditions of the Celts. For the first time the name of the holyday is mentioned in the 16th century as a Scottish shortening of the English «All-Hallows-Even», which translates as «The evening of All Saints».
Halloween has gained a lot of popularity in Russia for the past years. This year the celebration takes place on holidays, therefore, you have 3 days to party – from October 31 to November 2! We Heart Moscow has chosen the brightest and crowded with ghosts Halloween parties in Moscow.
BIG ANIMATION FESTIVAL
The eighth Big Animation Festival has started in Moscow. During 12 days there will take place the screenings of the best cartoons in the world – short and full-length, children and adults, Russian and foreign. Nearly 400 films and participants from more than 20 countries are presented in the festival’s program.
This year, the main sites of the festival are cinema Kosmos, Assembly Hall, Center for Documentary Films, Cinema Rolan, Pioneer, Cultural Centre ZIL and more than 10 other sites. For the convenience of visitors, festival screenings are divided into three programs: basic, children and for animation lovers.
The festival this year will host several animated parties: Halloween with Cartoon Network, Shakespeare-party, Ivan Maximov’s party and cosmic celebration for children.
In addition, from 1 to 4 November at the Cultural Center ZIL there will be the fifth Cartoon Factory: 2000 sq. meters, 20 parallel workshops on animation, as well as installations, film programs and many other interesting entertainments.
DAY OF THE OPEN WORLDS
The festival «Day of the Open Worlds» will be held from October 31 to November 2 at the Artplay Design Center. Cosplay, steampunk, manga, table games, anime screenings, various master classes are on program.
This year there will be special entertainments for the guests such as arcade game machines from J-Play Café: In the Groove 2, Pop’n’music 14 Fever and Initial D Arcade Stage Ver.3. A championship for some of the games will also take place.
Among other things, the program includes presentation of publishing Bubble, comic stand against xenophobia and project “Fenzin-factory” in which you will be able to draw and print your own graphic story with the expert guidance.
The festival will last from October 31 to November 2 at Design Center Artplay – Nignyaya Syromyatnicheskaya St. 10.
MEDIAIMPACT
MediaImpact: International Festival of Activist Art will take place for the 3-d time in Moscow on November 1-9 at the ARTPLAY Design Centre (Small Hall, building 7).
MediaImpact is an open international community seeking to explore, articulate, document, support and develop activist art. The key aspect of its activity is the inclusion of art projects into the actual socio-political practices: campaigning for the rights of minority groups, release of political prisoners, environmental protection and development of alternative healthcare systems, as well as standing up against censorship and defamation of cultural figures.
The program is built around the self-organized working group of artists, activists, art historians, art critics and philosophers. It includes assemblies, exhibitions, presentations, lectures, workshops, discussions, publishing activities, literary soirées, concerts, video screenings, residencies, collaborations and a collective Theory Lab.
Annual autumn festival in Moscow becomes an assembly point for the participants and initiatives undertaken during the year. The festival will announce next annual competition «For humane drug policy!», hold discussions of the «De-colonial» section with the MTL group (New York), a video meeting with Athens and a premiere screening of «Rent Rebels» film (Berlin) in Moscow. In addition, it will present new projects of the «Feminist Kitchen» Section, «Impudent Flaw» queer-fem-zine, workshops of Samba band, social graphics and tactical media sections, discussions of the Queer section and the theoretical laboratory, free-market of ideas and things as well it will hold the auction in support of political prisoners.
THE ART’S NIGHT
The «Art’s Night» is the logical continuation of the «Night at the Museum», «Music Night « and other events of the Department of Culture. The program will cover over dozens of familiar and not venues that will host meetings, concerts and film screenings – 250 places present special events for the night.
The aim of the «Art’s Night» is to give the guests an opportunity to realize their dreams, in which they can write poetry or portraits, play Hamlet or guitar, twist fouetté or potter’s wheel. You will be able to visit master classes and artists’ open classes, organized in theaters, museums, libraries, houses of culture, concert halls and theaters. The Art’s Night will be held on November 3.