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When do Christmas and New Years’ markets open in Russia this year?
If you’re trying to research the answer to this question, you may have run into some trouble… that’s because the opening dates for festive markets in Russia vary by town, city & region.
That’s why we created this page for you, so you can peep the opening dates for Russia’s Christmas and New Year’s Markets and events quickly and at a glance.
We hope you find it helpful!
This list is by no means exhaustive, and includes mainly bigger festive markets that we could find official websites and dates for. Let us know in the comments if you have any more we should add.
NOTE: Most Christmas markets don’t announce their confirmed dates until a few months before, so please excuse the sparse list for the time being! We’ll be sure to update this list with more dates as soon as they are released. Let us know in the comments if you know of any we should add for 2024!
New Years & Christmas Market Opening Dates in Russia 2024
So, when are Christmas markets opening in Russia?
First – it’s important to note that in Russia, they celebrate Christmas according to the Orthodox Calendar.
This means that the Christmas they celebrate takes place in January.
However, you’ll be able to find Christmas decorations and festivities throughout December as well, particularly in larger cities like Moscow and St Petersburg.
Second – it’s important for visitors to understand that Christmas was actually banned in Soviet Russia for 75 years. Following the 1917 Revolution, religious celebrations like Christmas were outlawed, and so Christmas wasn’t openly celebrated until the 90s.
During this time, New Years’ became the go-to festive celebration – they even embraced New Years’ trees in lieu of Christmas ones!
And while Christmas is now celebrated throughout Russia, New Year’s remains an important fixture of the holiday season, hence why many of the festive fairs in Russia are actually New Year’s Bazaars/Fairs, rather than strictly Christmas ones.
As of December 2024, only the dates for some of Russian largest Christmas markets have been announced. We will update this page as we learn more.
But for now, here is a table summarizing the opening dates of 2024 Russia Christmas markets that we know of so far.
Let us know in the comments if you have any tips on updates!
Referencing this information on your own website or article? We’ve put a lot of work into researching and creating these Christmas Market resources for our visitors, so we would greatly appreciate if you referenced/credited us with a link back to this page. Thank you for your understanding!
| Location | Christmas Market Name | 2024 Dates | More Info | Hotels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kazan | Kazan New Year's Fair | Dec 25 - Jan 13 | More Info | |
| Moscow | Journey to Christmas Festival | December 23 - Jan 12 | More Info | |
| Moscow | GUM Ice Rink at Red Square | December 5 - March 9 | More Info | |
| St Petersburg | New Year's Gift Expo | Dec 19 - 22 | More Info |
Help us improve this list of Russia Christmas Market dates!
Do you know of a confirmed Russian Christmas Market we should add to our list? Let us know in the comments!