XI. The International Apple and Book Festival took place on September 2 and 3 in Kolomna Region. It was visited by more than 15 thousand guests, which is 18% more than in 2022. This was reported in the press service of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Moscow Region.
A rich program awaited the guests of the festival: meetings with writers and publishers, theatrical storytelling and outdoor music, art practices with artists and gastronomic delights. The heart of the festival was the book market, attended by forty leading publishers. The “apple theme” was also reflected in the exhibition of Kolomna apple varieties and the biggest fruit competition.
“The festival has transformed from a one-room, almost plain event into a large-scale event in 11 years, entered the calendar of events of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Moscow Region and received support from the Russian Cultural Foundation. We chose the city squares as the central venue of the festival; There is a sense of secularism, calmness and unhurriedness in these squares. The festival also reveals new places on the city map like a pervert, there are 20 of them this year but perhaps the House of the Suranovs became the festival’s most iconic venue in 2023. I can easily say that the project to be implemented in the family home of the Suranov merchants has no analogues either in Russia or in Europe. This was made possible thanks to the support of the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives,” said Natalya Nikitina, creative producer of the festival and general manager of ANO Kolomensky Posad.
The grand opening of the House of Suranov took place on September 2. A band was playing. Special guests of the opening were Andrey and Yulia Matveev, grandchildren of the Suranov dynasty, who donated a collection of Vissarion Belinsky’s works published in 1890 to the Assembly. On September 8, 9 and 10, you can visit the family nest of merchants of Kolomna with a guest visit “In the Game”.
Specially for the event, the theater and experimental team of the Pilnyak Center created a vocal marching performance in Kolomna called The House That. This is an unhurried dialogue with the memorial houses that leave the historical part of Kolomna Posad. Soon, guests of the city will be able to join the chat walk, and the poster will be published on the Museum-Navigator website.
The most important event of the festival’s art program was the “Other Side of the River” exhibition held at the Museum-Laboratory “Silk Factory”. It is dedicated to the home as a sanctuary to fit in, and invites you on a journey through the landscapes of memory that connects the two environments: loss and finding home. The exhibition will continue until October 1st.
During the Apple Book Festival, a total of 80 events were held in 20 venues.