Start of the Festival!

President of the Russian Geographical Society, Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu has launched the first festival of the Society at the Central House of Artists in Moscow. Such a large-scaled event is held for the first time in nearly 170-year history of the oldest Russian public organization. 

- Good afternoon, dear colleagues! Good afternoon, dear friends! - President of the Russian Geographical Society Sergei Shoigu welcomed the guests. - This day, October 31, will undoubtedly go down in the glorious history of the Russian Geographical Society as the birthday of its new tradition. I acknowledge my indebtedness to those who came to share our holiday, including colleagues from foreign geographical societies, whom we are delighted to see here. Special thanks to those who helped organize the Festival, our partners and associates, our trustees. Thanks to these people the Russian Geographical Society has a chance to widely and clearly demonstrate what it does. 

Each day of the festival will be dedicated to a specific topic and will differ from the previous one. Guests can meet famous explorers, TV hosts, photographers, writers, take part in competitions, the winners of which will receive prizes and souvenirs. 

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President of the Russian Geographical Society Sergei Shoigu
President of the Russian Geographical Society Sergei Shoigu

All exhibits of the Festival are divided in several thematic zones. In the Travel zone you will learn about a variety of projects of the Society regional branches, mark the places you have already seen on the interactive map of Russia, propose names for nameless geographical objects, learn more about the explorers of our country and even take a virtual journey to wrecks. 

The zone of expeditions is of particular interest because there you can find out the results of the research of paleontologists, archaeologists and even divers! There you will see objects found during the archaeological and geographical expedition "Kyzyl - Kuragino" in Tuva and Krasnoyarsky Krai, Yakutsk mammoth Yuka, artifacts raised from the sunken battleship "Empress Catherine the Great" in the Black Sea, and more. Thus, visitors can find out the secret of the island of Gogland, see the famous ice camp «Barneo», get acquainted with the results of the underwater expedition «Pole of Cold", where a number of records was set, and more. 

In the zone of research, you can dive to the bottom of Lake Baikal in the submersible and see breathtaking aerial panoramas taken of AirPano. In the same sector, you will get to know the ecological status of Russian cities, scientific and practical developments in the field of forecasting natural disasters. 

Both children and adults will certainly learn a lot of interesting in ​​"In the world of animals" zone. There you will find out about the preservation of rare species, including the rarest big cat on the planet - the Amur Leopard. Also, wildlife photos of National Geographic and "Golden Turtle» exhibitions are of great interest! 

In the area of the Russian Geographical Society history, visitors can get acquainted with the activities of the public organization, to learn, for what services the medals of the Society are awarded, as well as to see rare books from the collection of the library. 

Every day in the zone of science and education leading scientists of the country will read lectures. Students will get valuable tips on how to prepare to enter best geographical universities in Russia. 

In the zone of regional branches of the Russian Geographical Society Festival visitors can learn about the achievements in the field of geography and education, field work and other activities of the Society in each of the 85 regions of our vast country. 

In zone of the partners you will learn about the organizations which over the years have been helping bring the brightest projects of the Society into life. 

To cut a long story short, each visitor will find something on their liking at the Festival. You can exchange flyers for gifts. 

A detailed schedule of events is posted on the website of the Society www.rgo.ru 

Festival of Russian Geographical Society is taking place at the Central House of Artists in Moscow from October 31 to November 6. 

October 31st: 15:00 - 20:00 

November 1-5: 10:00 - 20:00 

November 6: 10:00 - 18:00

Photo: Ilya Melnikov