In 2024, for the 100th anniversary of the birth of Viktor Astafiev, unique events are being held in Krasnoyarsk in celebration.

Municipal professional art collectives prepared two premieres for the important date.

The Krasnoyarsk Chamber Orchestra celebrated the writer's anniversary with the premiere of "The King Fish" suite. The work, based on the most famous book by Viktor Astafiev, was written by composer Vladimir Porotsky, commissioned by the artistic director of the orchestra Mikhail Benyumov. This particular piece is based on a ballet written by Vladimir Porotsky for Astafiev's 75th birthday. A quarter of a century later, "The King Fish" is performed in a new genre of chamber orchestra music.

Along with the music, Astafiev's word was recited from the stage by Anatoly Kobelkov, Honored Artist of Russia, actor of the Krasnoyarsk TUZ (Young Spectator's Theatre), winner of many prestigious awards, including the Astafiev Foundation Prize. The premiere has already been performed in Krasnoyarsk and Sosnovoborsk. On April 27 it will be presented in Divnogorsk, and on May 1 it will again take place in Krasnoyarsk in the big concert hall of the Siberian Institute of Arts.

These concerts of the Krasnoyarsk Chamber Orchestra are part of the project "Music in the prose of V. Astafiev: for the 100th anniversary of the writer." The special project won the grant competition of the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives and is being implemented with its support. As part of the grant, it is also planned to create a special digital space - a landing page for the recordings of the literary and musical composition "The King Fish" and materials about the work of the Siberian writer to be posted and available to everyone.

Another municipal group, the dance ensemble "Yeniseiskie Zori", presented a play "Viktor Astafiev: Guardian of the Russian Soul." The plots of the writer's works, translated into the language of choreography, got through an interesting, non-traditional makeover. The choreographic sketches conveyed the emotions and feelings that the prose of Viktor Astafiev evokes in people. The impression was enhanced by Viktor Petrovich's favorite music, including pieces by Georgy Sviridov, Sergei Rachmaninov, Alfred Schnittke, and Dmitri Shostakovich.

In the Krasnoyarsk gallery of the Russian Academy of Arts an exhibition dedicated to the anniversary was organised, presenting 100 graphic works made in various graphic techniques, illustrating the works of the writer.

The authors of the illustrations are academicians of the Russian Academy of Arts, trainees and graduates of creative workshops of the Russian Academy of Arts in Krasnoyarsk, members of the Siberian School of Xylography of German Pashtov, as well as students of the Siberian Institute of Arts named after Dmitri Hvorostovsky.