President of the Russian Geographical Society, Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu at a press conference in the Society’s Moscow Headquarters spoke about the schedule program of the Festival which starts on the last day of October.
The Russian Geographical Society Festival will be held on October 31 - November 6 at the Central House of Artists in Moscow. It will bring together specialists in the field of geography and related sciences, enthusiastic travelers, environmentalists, and all those who want to learn new things about Russia, to help preserve its natural and cultural heritage. All those who are keen on hiking, photography, local history, ethnography, archeology and underwater exploration.
img_7131.jpg
"The Russian Geographical Society Festival is a new project, I hope it will become a tradition - said Shoigu. - The main goal of the Russian Geographical Society is, of course, education. This is what our festival is dedicated to. It is aimed primarily at schoolchildren, students, all those who care about what is happening in our country, who want to know and understand where they live, to understand in what our country is different from other countries <…> in one week we will try to show you what we did yesterday, what we do today and plan to do tomorrow. "
According to the President of the Society, the Festival guests will have the opportunity to visit all parts of our country, to see the most breathtaking panoramas from the air (12-meter cinema will be built), dive in the submersible to the bottom of Lake Baikal, visit archaeological expeditions. In addition, visitors of this event will learn about the work of all 85 regional branches of the Society.
img-7081.jpg
"For the first time in nearly 170-year history of the Russian Geographical Society, we hold the festival where we will try to speak about our achievements in accessible language and show them to guests of the event - said First Vice-President of the Russian Geographical Society Nikolai Kasimov. - And the result - to stimulate people, youngsters to want to become geographers, ecologists. Our main task - to make people understand the importance of modern geography. This is the knowledge of the phenomena and processes of Earth. "
The Festival will be a truly international event: geographers from different countries have responded to the invitation. Geographers from France and Kazakhstan have already signed cooperation agreements, and from 9 countries with whom similar documents will be signed during the event. As Shoigu noted among them are: Italy, Spain, China, Kyrgyzstan, Serbia, Finland, Czech Republic, Azerbaijan and Belarus.
img-7191.jpg
As stressed by Artur Chilingarov, an integral part of the Society - is the expedition. Special direction of this activity is the underwater exploration.
For example, a traveler Alexey Nikulin has been holding sea sailing expedition "Russian trace" near the coast of Greece since 2012, the purpose of which is to throw light on previously unknown pages of Russian Archipelago expedition to the Greek islands.
The first stage took place in April-September 2012. 30 islands have been examined after that. Unique artifacts and evidence of existing of Russian Archipelago province were found. The second stage of the expedition took place in the autumn of 2013 on the island of Lemnos. The largest ship of Alexei Orlov’s squadron was found. In the spring of 2015 it is planned to carry out the third stage, during which the ship will be investigated and artifacts will be raised.
More details about these expeditions can be found out at the Russian Geographical Society Festival. In addition, guests will be able to get acquainted with many other expeditions of the Society. For example, to learn how and why the work on the island of Hogland and the Gulf of Finland is being carried out, and make sure that the map of our country still has "white spots".
To prove this: in the area of the archipelago of Franz Josef Land the island of Yaya has been discovered recently from a helicopter. And no less exotic outlying islands of the Gulf of Finland, which throughout history belonged to the Swedes, the Finns were never fully explored. Thus, their area and their origin have not been defined yet. This work is implemented by specialists of the Russian Geographical Society.
The Festival guests will see best wildlife photography, behind which sometimes stands a whole expedition; the most interesting documentaries and unique exhibits. For example, world-famous little mammoth Yucca and findings made during the international archaeological and geographical expedition "Kyzyl - Kuragino" . During the Festival materials from ethnographic expeditions of the Society, artifacts raised from sunken ships, artifacts found during search expeditions will be presented.
Each day will be dedicated to a different theme. Guests will try dishes of national cuisine of the peoples of Russia and get acquainted with their crafts, see yurts, communicate with famous explorers, TV hosts, photographers, writers, and take part in various competitions, the winners of which will receive prizes and souvenirs.
«It is hard to express in words all that to be seen at the Festival - said Shoigu. - If you have time, you will surely have something to do from October 31 to November 6."
