Moscow is about to launch one of its most spectacular festivals: the Circle of Light.
In this festival, lighting and multi-media designers from all over the world come to Moscow and create magic on the facades, squares and parks of Moscow. Images come out of the darkness and dash or dance or twirl across buildings. Magical creatures dash out from behind trees and cavort on park lawns. Chariots roar across one of Moscow’s central squares. All this is accompanied by music, sound and narration — and all of it is absolutely free.
From Friday until Tuesday, five venues will be the stages for light shows: Teatralnaya Ploshchad, Kolomenskoye Estate Park, Park Pobedy, Tsaritsyno Estate Park and Grebnoi Kanal, which will host the opening and closing ceremonies involving fountains of water and fire on earth and fireworks in the sky.
This year, Teatralnaya Ploshchad will host a new show about Spartacus and his fight for freedom, as well as present encores of past shows, Celestial Mechanics and Timeless, and the Art Vision competition finalists’ works. In past years just the Bolshoi Theater was the stage, as it were, but this year the action will be extended to the Maly Theater and RAMT (Russian Academic Youth Theater), giving an almost 300-degree circle of projection.
If you have children, bring them along, but especially bring them to Kolomenskoye, which will be turned into a magical kingdom every evening.
Starting times vary, but are generally around 7:30 p.m. when it’s dark.
For more information about the festival and schedule, see the Circle of Light site, which is in Russian and English.