How can you diversify your trip to your favorite destinations? Study the calendar of events and plan a trip for those dates that include themed holidays or festivals, concerts by local performers or competitions with valuable prizes. After all, many tourist locations have their own seasonal events – the best of them were named at the annual Russian Event Awards.
Every year, the international award in the field of event tourism gathers the most striking events: ethnographic festivals, forums, concerts, which are definitely worth including in your trip. One of the winners was the EcoFest Ruskeala Sports festival, an annual race around the Karelian marble canyons. The program of the event also includes open water swims in the waters of the Bolshoy Ruskeala Marble Canyon and races on sap boards. Ruskeala Mountain Park is supported by the Russian Geographical Society and is one of the key locations of the Karelian routes of the project “Travels with the Russian Geographical Society”. A visit to the famous marble canyons is also included in the program of the year-round grand tour "Entire Karelia". The location is known for its large-scale events: "Grand Piano in the Canyon", Ruskeala Symphony, New Year's fairs and craft festivals.
Natalia Belyakova, Director of the Department of Expeditionary Activities and Tourism Development, joined the expert council of the Russian Event Awards. She stressed the importance of including regional events in the programs of tourist routes.
“Events for travelers are an important event framework of the territory, which complements the tourist infrastructure and tourist products," she said. “Events are a powerful element of route support, and often their driver. When, for example, a visit to a major thematic festival is included in the tour program, the route arouses the interest of a much larger number of tourists. The facilities and tours recommended by the RGS have a line of their own events – we select the best practices and participate in their evaluation. For example, the Gorodets Museum Quarter, which received the recommendation of the Russian Geographical Society this year, often hosts musical concerts and thematic exhibitions; and the country's first paleopark Putilovo organizes archaeological expeditions for children and scientific courses in history and geology.
All tours of the project “Travels with the RGS” can be found on the website in the section "Where to Go". Now, in addition to tours, the project has the locations recommended by the Russian Geographical Society: museums, ethnoparks, manors. The full list is available in the "Places and Events" section.