​The districts of Krasnoyarsk city are finally beginning their own preparations for the holiday season, it would seem! This week alone has already been marked by a sheer variety of events and locations opening their doors for the city residents and guests alike.

Starting this week, Christmas fairs in Sovetsky, Kirovsky, Sverdlovsky, Centralny, Oktyabrsky and Zheleznodorozhny Districts are in operation.

Christmas trees, Christmas tree decorations and souvenirs can be purchased at 38 official points of sale, where more than 120 retail outlets are organized.

The holiday bazaars will officially close off on December 31.

An ice fortress location with a photo zone is being built in Oktyabrsky District

One of the district's public spaces is going to be dedicated to an ice fortress. A total of 5 compositions are currently under construction. 

The fortress will include a kind of a "skirt" of ice around the Christmas tree, a small-sized slide with an ice labyrinth for preschoolers, a middle-sized slide with wall carvings of cartoon characters, and a large slide with Siberian fauna like squirrels, bears, deer depicted on it.

A photo zone will become the fortress' centerpiece. Everyone will have the opportunity to take a picture on an ice throne, in a reindeer sleigh, with the human-sized Father Frost and the Snow Maiden Snegurochka.

Father Frost and Snegurochka Workshop opens in Zheleznodorozhny District

The New Year-devoted studio has recently begun work in a local daycare. In this creative workshop, the teachers and preschoolers make handicrafts for the holiday. In the assortment is a variety of choice, from traditional snowflakes to the 2021 symbols, there are also more complex designs and Christmas tree decorations.

Children and adults alike work using decoupage technique.The New Year's designs are first decorated with printed pictures, and then the product is varnished to protect it from external influences. Sequins, rhinestones, beads, ribbons and bows are often used in decoupage.

Results of the City Competition for the Best Carnival Mask, New Year's Decoration and Composition announced

This weekend, the results of the annual citywide competition for the best New Year-themed handicrafts were finally announced. Diplomas, sweets and other prizes will be given to a total of 30 prize-winners in the following nominations: New Year Decoration, Carnival Mask, New Year's Composition and New Year's Family Work. As per tradition, 3 more participants will be awarded a special jury prize.

Residents of all districts of the city took part in the holiday competition, but most of the winners – 7 people each – turned out to be from Oktyabrsky and Zheleznodorozhny districts. In total, 105 works got accreditation for the second stage of the competition.

«Despite the fact this year's competition pretty much took place online, we still received many wonderful creative works. I was especially pleased with the large number of carnival masks, because usually there are not so many applicants in this nomination. In general, all the works are amazingly colourful and creative; it was not easy to choose the best among them. We are so glad that the city residents are actively participating and handcraft some real masterpieces. We hope the process of completing the projects brought the participants some holiday spirit,» – says the curator of the competition and member of the jury Tatyana Bakhtina.

According to the jury, the main deciding factor in the assessment is that the work is handcrafted and reflects the kid's creative effort. At the same time, the quality of execution and design of toys or crafts is equally important. Not forgetting, of course, its colour and unorthodoxy.

This year's creations can be roughly divided into three themes: fairy tales and characters, various animals and bulls, the symbol of the upcoming year, and Christmas trees – the main New Year's decoration.

«The Ice Queen», «Mistress of the Taiga», «A Dryad» – when making masks, it seems, the participants let their imagination run wild and managed to recreate truly unique images in their works. 

The jury was also pleased with the creative approach to making the New Year-themed compositions: the jury members were completely struck by the complexity of the execution and the attention to detail. In particular, the unanimous delight of those present was caused by a work entitled «Stolby, the beauty of the Krasnoyarsk land.» Using styrofoam and beads, 9-year-old Vesta Martynova from Sverdlovsky district depicted one of the most beautiful locations of the city.

«We were thinking (with my daughter) about this theme 'Krasnoyarsk is the soul and energy of Siberia' and decided to depict our famous Feathers in Stolby. The residents of our city are very fond of this place, we are all proud of it, – says the participant's mother Olga Filatova. – The whole thing took a week; of course, I helped my kid during the process. We actually take part in the competition every year and always try to make something beautiful and unusual.»

You can look at the works on the Art Gallery «13-А» socials: https://vk.com/artgallery13a, https://www.instagram.com/artgallery13a/ and https://vk.com/okno_v_kulturu.