Red Square (Book Festival)

Book Festival "Red Square"

Book Festival "Red Square"

Konstantin Mogilevsky, Vladimir Grigoryev, Sergey Naryshkin and Mikhail Seslavinsky at the festival "Red Square" - 2018

The book festival "Red Square" is an annual Russian book festival held in Moscow . Timed to the birthday of A.S. Pushkin and the Day of the Russian language ^[1] .

The book festival "Red Square" is organized by the Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communications . Over the years, the partners of the agency were the Russian Book Union, the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the Government of Moscow ^[2] .

The idea of ​​holding the festival belongs to the head of the Federal Press and Mass Media Agency Mikhail Seslavinsky . Chairman of the organizing committee for the preparation and conduct of the book festival "Red Square" - adviser to the President of the Russian Federation on culture Vladimir Tolstoy ^[3] . Deputy Chairman of the Organizing Committee Vladimir Grigoryev ^[4] .

For the first time, a book festival on Red Square under the working title “Books of Russia” was held from June 25 to 28, 2015 ^[5] and became the culmination of the Year of Literature ^{[6] [7]} . The Book of Russia festival was the first fashionable and large-scale book event for anyone interested in books and literature. ^[8] Upon completion of this successful project, it was decided to keep the book festival on the main square of the country under the name “Red Square” and make it an annual event. ^{[9] [10]} The dates of the festival are assigned by order of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin . In 2016 and 2017 The festival was held from June 3 to 6. ^{[11] [12]}

The festival is structured into venues - themed sectors that divide the space of the square - from the Historical Museum to the St. Basil's Cathedral . In addition to traditional venues in 2015 and 2016: “Main Stage”, “Fiction”, “Children's and educational literature” ^{[13] [14]} , “Non-fiction”, “Regions of Russia”, “E-book / Bookabyte”, “Moscow is a literary metropolis” - in 2017, new ones appeared. Directly opposite the Historical Museum was located the site "Patriotic History" - an exhibition project dedicated to the centenary of the Russian revolution ^[15] . And on the first line of the GUM there were located the Museum Line sites ^[16] and the Antique and Second-hand book, in the Demonstration Hall on the third floor - Literary Lounge.

In 2017, Russian museums presented their publications at the festival ^[17] : the State Russian Museum , the State Tretyakov Gallery , the Moscow Kremlin State Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve , the Garage Museum of Modern Art and many others.

On the "Main Stage" poets and writers, musicians and actors perform. ^[18] In different years, the actors of the Bolshoi Theater , Moscow Art Theater named after A.P. Chekhov ^[19] , the Sovremennik Theater, Helikon-Opera , the Center named after Sun Meyerhold, RAMT ^[20] and others.

On the site "Regions of Russia" publishers present readers with books from remote areas of the country ^{[21] [22] [23] [24]} .

Festival participants at various venues are traditionally Russian authors ^[25] : Evgeny Vodolazkin ^[26] , Tatyana Ustinova , Zakhar Prilepin ^[27] , Ekaterina Vilmont ^[28] , Daria Dontsova ^[29] , Edward Radzinsky ^[30] , Ivan Okhlobystin ^{[31] ]} , Sergey Lukyanenko ^[32] , Mikhail Yasnov , Anastasia Orlova ^[33] , German Sadulaev , Denis Dragunsky , Peter Aleshkovsky , Andrey Dementiev ^[34] and many others.

At the 2017 festival, the presentation of the publication “The Anthology of Contemporary Poetry of the Peoples of Russia” ^{[35] [36] was held} , the introduction to which was written by President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin . In 2017, the presentation of the memoirs of the widow of the first President of Russia Naina Yeltsin “Personal Life” ^{[37] [38] was held} with the participation of the author.

June 6th at the festival of 2016 and 2017. was completely dedicated to the birthday of Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin and the Day of the Russian Language ^[39] . On this day, the festival hosts presentations of modern books on the poet’s work and fate, performances based on his works, lectures, and performances. ^{[40] [41]}

Entrance to the "Red Square" during the festival is free for everyone, without tickets. For 4 days, the festival is visited annually by about 200 thousand people. ^{[42] [43]}