The XVI Winter Surikov Art Festival has officially come to its conclusion. On the date of Vasily Surikov's birthday,  Krasnoyarsk citizens listened to stories about the artist's Italian travels and remembered the most exciting events of the past festival month.

Closing of the festival began with a "Bow to Surikov": according to tradition, Krasnoyarsk residents lay flowers at the monuments and busts of the artist. This year, not only personas of culture, but also kids from art schools of the city came to the monument, erected near the house where the family of Vasily Ivanovich lived at the time, and now the Museum-Estate of the artist is located. After the ceremony, the guests were given a curatorial tour of the book exhibition "Thoughts of Art", and then they were offered to try some traditional Siberian treats, buns with lingonberries and bird cherry.

In the evening, the Krasnoyarsk Chamber Orchestra conducted by the Florentine violinist and conductor Igor Polesitsky performed on the stage of the Small Concert Hall of the Krasnoyarsk Regional Philharmonic. The programme included works by Italian composers. The special guest of the concert was young violinist Daria Manza, laureate of all-Russian and international competitions, a silver medal winner of the Russian Youth Delphic Games.

Together with the orchestra, she performed two of Antonio Vivaldi's concertos from the Four Seasons concerto group. The music was accompanied by a video sequence, assembled from Vasily Ivanovich's watercolour works, created during the artist's travels around Italian cities.

A small photo retrospective of the festival was arranged in the foyer for everyone curious to get to know the history of the event. The audience was greeted by the Sibirskaya Vechora folklore band and the folk-defile of kokoshniks from Krasnoyarsk designer Olga Laptenok performed by the Yeniseyskie Zori dance ensemble.

The festival was held from December 24 to January 24. For a whole month, Krasnoyarsk residents enjoyed concerts, exhibitions, quests, excursions and film screenings. This year, the main programme included more than 20 major events attended by about 15,000 people.

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«Attending the events of the Surikov Art Festival is a wonderful winter tradition for Krasnoyarsk residents of all ages. And for guests it is a great opportunity to join in the mood, rhythm, spirit of our city. Thank you to all the organisers for this cultural marathon. I really hope that some of the ideas of the winter festival this summer will be implemented on the territory of urban public spaces, so that even more Krasnoyarsk residents can familiarise themselves with true high art,» – Sergei Eremin, Mayor of Krasnoyarsk, shared his impressions of the Festival.

Next year the festival will be dedicated to the very special date– the upcoming 175th anniversary of the birth of Vasily Surikov. A special programme and new formats of already familiar events are being prepared for Krasnoyarsk residents.