Culture, not only the Football one

The embankment of Volga river in Samara is something the inhabitants are especially proud of and their favourite place to unwind. It is 5 km long and is considered one of the most beautiful in the country and becomes the quintessence of urban culture in summer. Plenty of festivals, free concerts by local theatre and philharmonic groups, singing fountains and open-air cinemas are just a few to name. For visitors’ convenience, there are food & beverages, sport areas, rollerskates and bike rentals. Cultural and sport events are a regular thing here. And of course there is always special place for football. Along the embankment there are several 5-a-side pitches with artificial turf and every year the beach is equipped for the locals’ favourite sport beach soccer.

On 11 and 12 June 2017 “Volgafest” the most unusual festival in Povolzhye region was held for the second time on the second line of the embankment. The embankment and the beach featured dozens of entertainment and educational sites, public art programmes, two stages, performance-procession “The flight of life” and kite shows. A parade of unusual boats “Volzhskiy flow” also took place on the river Volga. In 2017 the festival became truly international. Artists from France, Italy and Germany all performed here. The number of participants reached 700 people and the number of visitors rocketed to over 250 000 people.

Tens of thousands of inhabitants come to the sandy beaches to sunbathe and swim in Volga. You can enjoy the beauty of the river and spectacular views of the city by taking a boat trip on the river. In the winter period, the frozen river turns into a site for snow kiting tournaments, sled dog racing and winter fishing competitions.  

At present, the region offers over 160 museums to visit that include local history museum with unique archaeological and numismatic collections, museum of art with icon collections and Russian avantgarde paintings, memorial museums of A. Tolstoy and I. Repin.

 The “Stalin’s bunker” museum is the biggest bunker in the world that is open for visitors. • Samara Space Museum and exhibition complex was opened on 12 April 2001 marking the 45th anniversary of the city’s space industry. The building has the only Soyuz carrier rocket in Europe installed at launch position. On 14 June 2017, a year prior to the World Football Championship, “Wings of Future” exhibition devoted to the 2018 FIFA World CupTM Host City preparation opened in one of the halls.  • Samara Football Museum is the first public football museum in the country. A big part of the exhibition is dedicated to PFC “Krylia Sovetov” and contains hundreds of exclusive exhibits which were gifted by “Krylia Sovetov” fans, veterans, coaches, current and ex-football players and representatives of many clubs.

Every year, a range of festivals and celebrations are held in Samara region that attract hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over the country. Grushensky Festival has become the hallmark of Samara region. 38 previous festivals of bard songs have brought in hundreds of thousands of visitors. It’s far easier to name the artists who have not been to the festival rather than the ones who have been there.