Celebrations in honor of the Navy are held in Russia annually in July from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok. The main festivities are concentrated in regions with military harbors.
Celebrated by the whole world
In Kronstadt in 2017, the largest military technology parade in the history of the state took place. Dedicated to the Navy, it took place in the second half of summer, in July, on a day off. On July 28, a dress rehearsal was held in St. Petersburg. It involved ships and military aircraft of several Russian fleets. The place of major celebrations was Kronstadt. The embankments of the Gulf of Finland and the Neva were visited by hundreds of thousands of citizens and guests of St. Petersburg these days.
The first passage of warships took place on July 28. Day off or not, the day on the number of people watching the movement on the bay of the underwater strategic cruiser Dmitry Donskoy, which became one of the main decorations of the holiday, was not affected. The coast was filled with people. Other military vessels took part in the celebrations on the weekend of July 28 in St. Petersburg.
Venue - the whole city
In previous years, the holiday fell on other dates of the month. Four years ago, it was held on July 28 - a day off in St. Petersburg. In the naval parade were dozens of ships of the Northern Flotilla. However, with the scale of the events of 2017, the celebrations of previous years are difficult to compare. In addition to the waters of the Gulf of Finland and the Neva, holiday venues flooded all of St. Petersburg.
The Fontanka River during the holidays is inaccessible to all small boats between the Laundry and Panteleimonovsky bridges. The ban also extended to other bodies of water, including the Winter Canal. Regardless of whether or not July 28 is a day off, the areas of the Ring Road, Bolsheokhtinsky and Alexander Nevsky bridges can experience a large influx of transport, they will be covered by the main stream transferred here from the places of the main crowd of spectators.
Building bridges - for the holiday
In the city on the Neva River, tourists like to watch the cultivation of several bridges at once at an unusual time for this, on days of great celebrations. In the morning, the people in a hurry to see Blagoveshchensky, Palace, as well as Troitsky and Liteiny, see how four bridges would lock their wings up until lunch from July 28. The weekend in St. Petersburg will be marked by an influx of spectators involved in the bridges to watch their breeding. The guests of the northern capital, in addition to the beauty and historical places of the city, are particularly interested in this particular technical process.
In the morning of July 28, whether it is a day off or not, the holiday atmosphere begins to be felt in the morning. The end of the month, which means a parade is coming. Admiralteysky passage, several embankments, including Palace, Universitetskaya and Lieutenant Schmidt, are preparing for an influx of visitors, and also restrict traffic these days, so that pedestrians are more comfortable traveling from July 28. The weekend in St. Petersburg takes almost all of its residents to the streets of the city.
Grozny Kronstadt
The most popular festivities are concentrated in Kronstadt, where the main heroes of the festivities - the ships of the Northern Flotilla that are in the arsenal of the country - are located in the harbor. In 2017, they were joined by military frigates who arrived from the harbors of the Baltic and Black Seas, as well as the Pacific Ocean. The parade of equipment could be observed since July 28. The weekend in St. Petersburg was marked by a passage in front of an admiring audience of about three dozen warships, including nuclear submarines, missile cruisers, sailboats.
Meanwhile, on land, the center of the influx of spectators was the Museum of History, located in the same place in Kronstadt, where platforms were opened to introduce visitors to Russian folk crafts. The participants could show their skills in weaving, blacksmithing and pottery. Many were carried away by weaving baskets and painting on wood. From Friday, July 28, to a day off on July 30, the museum hosted the festival "Poetry of Crafts". Toward evening, the audience gathered at Petrovsky Park, where creative and sports venues were also organized. There was also a concert called “Seven Feet Under the Keel” and “Feast of Neptune.”
All roads lead to St. Petersburg
The leaders of the state, led by Russian President Vladimir Putin, also took part in the celebration of Navy Day. His arrival was announced by the Kremlin on July 28. The day off in St. Petersburg began with the Divine Liturgy. He was held in the Kronstadt Naval Cathedral by Patriarch Kirill. The military parade at the Navy Commander Vladimir Korolev was received by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Then, together with him and the Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu, the head of state made a boat tour by boat.
The crews of all boats, cruisers and frigates on this day received personal congratulations from Vladimir Putin. The president’s boat did not ignore any of the ships participating in the parade, many of which arrived in St. Petersburg on July 28. A day off or not, guests began to arrive in advance for the celebrations in the Gulf of Finland, despite the weekday on the calendar. Then, the leaders of the state watched the parade from the rostrum installed on the Admiralteyskaya embankment.
Not a single fleet
The embankments of the Gulf of Finland and the Neva could not accommodate everyone who wanted to join the holiday, because for all the spectators left behind, all kinds of events were held, preparations for which began on July 28. The day off, on which the main celebrations took place, attracted lovers of tug of war to Makarovskaya Street, where competitions in this spectacular sport were held. A concert of military bands took place all day on Palace Square, after which the Turetsky Choir performed in front of the audience.
The culmination of the holiday from the Neva and the Gulf of Finland shifted towards night to Anchor Square, from where the city lit up a grandiose salute. Preparations for it have been conducted since July 28. The weekend in St. Petersburg, which was attended by the main celebrations, received numerous guests of the northern capital in the Peter and Paul Fortress, on Manezhnaya Square, in Pushkin, in the Alexander Garden and many other corners of the city.