Since Red Square will be closed to revelers this year — officials say there will be filming for a television show — where can you go to ring in the New Year outside with a crowd?
Head to one of 21 city parks! Most activities begin about 10 p.m., with a pause for a broadcast of President Putin's address to the nation after midnight, and then fireworks at 1 a.m. All ice skating rinks — if the cold weather holds and they are functioning — will be open until 3 a.m.
Some highlights:
At Gorky Park they are having a big concert with DJ Futurist, Voloshin, Rozet and headliner Philipp Gorbachev. The main square will be turned into a dance floor. Across the street at Muzeon, Ole Lukoye — the fellow English speakers call the Sandman — and the Freak Fabrik street theater will entertain all comers with fantasy dream plays involving jugglers, tight-rope walkers, acrobats, and dancers. And don't worry about getting hungry — food courts abound.
If you're in a disco kind of mood, head over to Sokolniki Park around 5 p.m. for 90s disco dancing. Izmailovo Park is the place to be for rock n' roll and rockabilly: the Marshmallows and the Honky Tonk Trio will be rocking in the new year with a disco until the wee hours. The park at Krasnaya Presnya is welcoming in the New Year with the Snow White and the Seven Dwarves acrobatic show followed by the group Masha and the Bears after midnight.
For something a bit nostalgic, but magical, stop in the Hermitage Garden for installations of Christmases past and the Kikipickles jazz group. And for an international celebration, the place to go is Poklonnaya Gora, where entertainment includes a drum show from Brazil, 10-meter Chinese dragons — made of paper and people, we assume — the Moscow Irish dance troupe Iridan, a Georgian dance group and even Chante Sha, a Russian group that does their best to reproduce and celebrate Native American song and dance.
For more information in Russian on New Year's Eve and other events in the parks, see mosgor-park.ru.
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