The opening ceremony of the II Festival of the Russian Geographical Society

The opening ceremony of the Festival of the Russian Geographical Society. Photo by Nikolay Razuvaev
The opening ceremony of the Festival of the Russian Geographical Society. Photo by Nikolay Razuvaev

The opening ceremony of the II Festival of the Russian Geographical Society was held in Moscow. All Russia has fit in the Central House of Artists – five natural areas, the brightest expeditions of the Society, the most notable facts about our country. The opening ceremony of the Festival was started with the colorful show about Russia, and it was completed by the long-awaited announcement and rewarding of the winners of «The most beautiful country» photo contest.

The Chairman of the Media Council of the Russian Geographical Society Dmitry Peskov announced at the opening ceremony a congratulatory word which the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Society Vladimir Putin sent to the guests, participants and organizers of the Festival. «The idea of holding the Festival of the Russian Geographical Society got a broad public support, brought together a large number of people of different ages, professions, hobbies, - those who sincerely love Russia, is interested in its history and original traditions, who feels complicity and personal responsibility for preservation of its unique cultural and natural heritage», - in particular, it is said in the greeting word.

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The Chairman of the Media Council of the Russian Geographical Society Dmitry Peskov. Photo by Nikolay Razuvaev
The Chairman of the Media Council of the Russian Geographical Society Dmitry Peskov. Photo by Nikolay Razuvaev

And that is really so – people of various occupations and ages gathered at the opening ceremony. The representatives of the regional branches of the Russian Geographical Society, the winners of the photo contest «The most beautiful country», guests of honor, amongst them there were: the Chairman of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly Valentina Matviyenko, the Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Sergey Naryshkin, the First Vice President of the Russian Geographical Society Artur Chilingarov, photo contest jury chairman Sergey Gorshkov, the President of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts Irina Antonova, the member of the Media Council of the Russian Geographical Society, Professor, Doctor of Biological Sciences and PhD in geography, TV presenter Nikolai Drozdov, sculptor Dashi Namdakov, TV presenter Valdis Pelsh, the cosmonauts Yuri Lonchakov and Alexander Samokutyaev.

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The opening ceremony of the Festival of the Russian Geographical Society. Photo by Nikolay Razuvaev
The opening ceremony of the Festival of the Russian Geographical Society. Photo by Nikolay Razuvaev

Greeting the attendants, the President of the Russian Geographical Society Sergey Shoygu thanked the participants of the Festival. «I would like to thank the all who have found the time, who wanted, desired, have come here, have brought their expositions, their products and crafts, tents, and the plague, boats and trailers, ATVs and paintings, photos and much more. All that is certainly demanded by our country today», - he said and mentioned that there were more than 10 thousand visitors per day at the Festival of the Russian Geographical Society last year.

«That shows a great interest of our citizens to everything that happens in the Russian Geographical Society and in our country», - the President of the Russian  Geographical Society noted.

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Sergey Shoygu is greeting the guests at the opening ceremony of the Festival of the Russian Geographical Society. Photo by Nikolay Razuvaev
Sergey Shoygu is greeting the guests at the opening ceremony of the Festival of the Russian Geographical Society. Photo by Nikolay Razuvaev

Within the framework of the opening ceremony of the Festival of the Russian Geographical Society there was held the rewarding of 11 winners of the All-Russian Geographical Society photo contest «The most beautiful country». The names of these lucky beggars were not known even by the jury as voting for the best works had been anonymous. All of them got the prizes from the Russian Geographical Society for their bright and original photo works:  diploma of the winner of the nomination, the certificate for 500 thousand rubles and the right to participate in one of the most exciting expeditions of the Russian Geographical Society. But that is not all yet – Sergey Shoygu handed all the winners a memorable gift – his photo with autograph.

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Dashi Namdakov presents the award to the winner of the photo contest of the Russian Geographical Society
Dashi Namdakov presents the award to the winner of the photo contest of the Russian Geographical Society

After all the all the awards were handed, the President of the Russian Geographical Society Sergey Shoygu and the Chairman of the Russian Historical Society Sergey Naryshkin signed the agreement on cooperation between these two organizations.

«This is becoming some kind of tradition – the signing of such agreements at the Festival of the Russian Geographical Society. It surely expands the boundaries of the Russian Geographical Society, of our cooperation, communication, interaction», - Sergey Shoygu noted.

That day there were signed the agreements on cooperation between the Russian Geographical Society and National Association of Geographers of India (NAGI), between the Russian Geographical Society and Association of Geomorphology of the Islamic Republic of Iran, between the Russian Geographical Society and the Geographical Society of Uzbekistan and between the Russian Geographical Society and Society of South African Geographers (SSAG) as well.

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The signing ceremony is completed. Photo by Nikolay Razuvaev
The signing ceremony is completed. Photo by Nikolay Razuvaev

On this the opening ceremony was completed, and the Festival of the Russian Geographical Society started its work. We would like to remind you that each of the 10 days of the Festival is dedicated to defined themes.

We are waiting for you at the Festival of the Russian Geographical Society!

 

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