National holidays in Russia

Date		Holiday
January	1st	New Year
	7th	Christmas
	13th	Old New Year
	25th	Tatiana Day Russian Students Day
February	23rd	Defender of the Fatherland Day
March	8th	International Women’s Day
March	begining of month	Maslenitsa
April	1st	April Fools’ Day
April	begining of month	Easter
May	1st	Spring and Labour Day
May	9th	Victory Day
June	12th	Russia Day
July	2nd	Day of Foundaiton of Vladivostok
August	22nd	Flag Day
September	1st	Knowledge Day
September	last sunday of month	Tiger Day in Vladivostok
November	4th	Unity Day
December	31st	New Year Eve

Holidays marked red are public holidays.

New Year

New Year in Russia is celebrated on the night of December 31 to January 1. Russian New Year traditions include a New Year’s tree decorated with sweets and has a bright star on top. Another tradition is the arrival of Father Frost or Ded Moroz along with his granddaughter Snegurochka, the snow girl. Children wait for them as they bring New Year presents and keep them under the New Year’s tree. To make Father Frost happy, children sing songs. People have a sumptuous dinner with a glass of bubbling champagne. Another tradition is the listening to the New Year Speech by the President of Russia and the strike of Kremlin clock.

Christmas

As in other Eastern Orthodox countries, in Russia Christmas is celebrated on January 7. Unlike its Western counterparts, Christmas is mainly a religious event. On Christmas Eve, there are several long services, including the Royal Hours and Vespers combined with the Divine Liturgy. The family will then return home for the traditional Chrismas Eve “Holy Supper”. Devout families will then return to church for the All Night Vigil. Then again, on Christmas Morning, for the Divine Liturgy of the Nativity. Christmas is a national holiday in Russia, as part of the ten-day holiday at the start of every new year. While Christmas is increasingly important, many Russians continue to focus on the New Year’s celebration.

Old New Year

Though the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic officially adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1918, the Russian Orthodox Church continued to use the Julian calendar. The New Year became a holiday which is celebrated by both calendars. On that day (January 13), joyous entertainment, fireworks, elaborate and often large meals and other festivities are common. The holiday is interesting as it combines secular traditions of bringing in the New Year with the folk customs, such as carol-singing. The New Year by the Julian calendar is still informally observed, and the tradition of celebrating the coming of the New Year twice is widely enjoyed: January 1 (New New Year) and January 13 (Old New Year).

Tatiana Day / Russian Students Day

Tatiana Day is a Russian religious holiday observed on January 25. It is named after Saint Tatiana. In 1755 on the name day of Ivan Shuvalov’s mother Tatiana Rodionovna, his mistress Empress Elizabeth of Russia endorsed his petition to establish a university in Moscow. The church of Saint Tatiana was later built in the university campus, the Russian Orthodox Church declared Saint Tatiana the patron saint of students, and Tatiana Day has become celebrated as Russian Students Day.

Defender of the Fatherland Day

Officially, as the name suggests, the holiday celebrates people who are serving or were serving the Russian Armed Forces (both men and women), but unofficially, nationally it has also more recently come to include the celebration of men as a whole, and to act as a counterpart of International Women’s Day on March 8.The holiday is celebrated with parades and processions in honor of veterans, and women also give small gifts to the Russian men in their lives. As a part of the workplace culture, women often give gifts to their male co-workers. Consequently, in colloquial usage, the holiday is often referred to as Men’s Day.

International Women’s Day

It is a major day of global celebration of women. Started as a Socialist political event, the holiday blended in the culture of Russia, and the former Soviet bloc. Now the day lost its political flavour, and became simply an occasion for men to express their love for women in a way somewhat similar to a mixture of Mother’s Day and St Valentine’s Day.On this day it is customary for men to give the women in their lives—mothers, wives, girlfriends, daughters, colleagues, etc.—flowers and small gifts. Women sometimes get gifts from their employers too. Schoolchildren often bring gifts for their teachers as well.

Maslenitsa

Maslenitsa is a sun festival, celebrating the imminent end of the winter. It is celebrated during the last week before Great Lent—that is, the seventh week before Easter. The most characteristic food of Maslenitsa is bliny (Russian pancakes), popularly taken to symbolize the sun. Maslenitsa also includes masquerades, snowball fights, sledding, riding on swings and plenty of sleigh rides. The mascot of the celebration is a brightly dressed straw effigy of Lady Maslenitsa. As the culmination of the celebration, on Sunday evening, Lady Maslenitsa is stripped of her finery and put to the flames of a bonfire.

April Fools’ Day

April Fool’s Day was first introduced by Peter I. Since then, this unofficial holiday in Russia has been adored both by adults and children. To mark April 1 in Russia means charging with positive emotions for the upcoming year. The joke might be kind, funny and even extreme, if you want, but in the end it all should end in laughter.

Easter

Russia the major religious celebration of the year. It is even more important than Christmas.In Russia Easter is usually celebrated later than in the West. This happens because Easter dates are determined by different calendars. The Russian-Orthodox church uses the old Julian calendar. Russian people traditionally bake Easter cakes, known as “kulich”. Another interesting Easter ritual in Russia is the Easter egg decoration. Another integral aspect of Easter celebrations in Russia is the family Easter dinner.

Spring and Labour Day

May 1 was a symbol of class struggle in Russia for about 100 years. Workers held annual protests on this day from 1890 to 1917, demanding better work conditions and higher wages. After the Revolution May 1 became an important public holiday, known as the Day of the International Solidarity of Workers. Celebrations of May 1 lost their political meaning in Russia after 1991. Some political parties and labor unions may have demonstrations on this day, but most Russians use Spring and Labor Day for gardening or spending time with their families.

Victory Day

May 9th, Russia celebrates the victory over Nazi Germany, while remembering those who died in order to achieve it. Victory Day is by far one of the biggest Russian holidays. It commemorates those who died in WWII and pays tribute to survivors and veterans. Flowers and wreaths are laid on wartime graves and special parties and concerts are organized for veterans. In the evening there is a firework display. A huge military parade is annually organized in Moscow on Red Square. Similar parades are organized in all major Russian cities.

Russia Day

Russia Day is a holiday, somewhat similar to independence day, celebrated on June 12th. On June 12, 1990 Soviet leaders signed a declaration of Russia’s state sovereignty. That document symbolized the beginning of democratic reforms in Russia. The holiday was officially established in 1992. In the past few years, Russia Day became an occasion for national pride, when many people pay tribute to prominent Russians. People may attend concerts and fireworks that take place in many cities throughout the country.

Day of Foundaiton of Vladivostok

In the summer of 1859, Governor-General of Eastern Siberia, Nikolay N. Muravyov, visited the peninsula and the bay, which was somewhat similar to the Bay of the Golden Horn in Constantinople, aboard the steam corvette Amerika. The peninsula was named Muravyov-Amursky in his honor. On July 2, 1860 the military supply ship Manchur, under the command of Captain-Lieutenant Alexey K. Shefner, called at the Golden Horn Bay to found an outpost called Vladivostok. Now at that day citizens celebrate Birthday of Vladivostok. In this day parades, concerts and fireworks are attended.

Flag Day

On August 22, 1991, Russian officials voted to replace the flag of the Soviet Union with Russia’s traditional red, white, and blue flag. While National Flag Day is not a bank holiday or one where citizens enjoy a day off from work, the day is still significant to many people as it symbolizes the fall of the Soviet Union. At that day thousands of people dressed in white, red and blue march down city’s main streets today as part of the National Flag Day celebrations.

Knowledge Day

Knowledge Day, often simply called 1st of September, is the day when the school year traditionally starts in Russia. It has special significance for the incoming class of first graders who come to school for the first time and often participate in a celebratory assembly on this date. The day also involves the First Bell where a first grade girl is lifted on the shoulders of a 12th grade male pupil, and paraded around, ringing the first bell of the school year.

Tiger Day in Vladivostok

As tiger is a symbol of Vladivostok and Primorsky krai, Tiger Day is one of the main holidays of the city. The celebration begins in the afternoon, with a street parade. The march included children and their parents, groups of schools and children’s clubs, most in costumes of tigers. The carnival march was followed by various theatrical performances. “Tiger Day” is the biggest eco-celebration in Russia’s Far East.

Unity Day

Unity Day commemorates the popular uprising led by Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky which ejected the Polish invaders from Moscow in November of 1612, and more generally the end of the Time of Troubles and foreign intervention in Russia. Its name alludes to the idea that all the classes of Russian society willingly united to preserve Russian statehood when its demise seemed inevitable, even though there was neither Tsar nor Patriarch to guide them.