WORDS
TRISTAN KENNEDY
PHOTO
ALAMY
0 3 0
O N T H E S C E N E
M O S C O W
tinsel-wrapped trees
with twinkling lights, excitable
children, an elderly bearded gentleman handing out
presents and, all around me, families and friends
coming together to eat a traditional meal. It sounds
like a very familiar scene, but there’s one fundamental
difference: the date on the wall reads 31 December.
That’s because this is Moscow and they do things
differently here. Seventy years of enforced atheism
under the Soviets meant that Christmas became
just another working day for Russians. However, not
even the USSR was able to effect a full-on Grinch, so
many of the traditions that Westerners associate with
Jesus’s birthday were simply moved a week later on to
the New Year festival. That means New Year trees, New
Year presents and a special New Year meal (including
Olivier salad – mayonnaise-smothered potatoes, Spam
and peas) are all part of the fun.
“It’s like Christmas and New Year rolled into one,”
explains long-term French expat Olivier Sauvage, who
lives and works in Moscow. “But, just because some
people like the family-Christmas element, don’t be
thinking that Russians don’t know how to party.”
There’s not much chance of overlooking this fact.
At this time of year, the Muscovites’ love of the non-
Communist kind of parties is evident, even to the most
unobservant of visitors. All through December, there’s
a buzz building in the city, culminating on New Year’s
Eve when public spaces across Moscow are taken over
by revellers, while Red Square hosts a huge firework
display that lights up the onion domes of St Basil’s
Cathedral like a Disney fairy-tale castle.
In recent years, though, there’s been an increase in a
slinky new type of New Year’s do: Moscow’s hip young
things are eschewing these conventional countdowns
in favour of a more raucous take on the Soviet
Christmas-style traditions.
“Red Square wouldn’t be my first choice these
days,” says Denis Andreev, a Moscow native who
works for Bloomberg.
Sauvage agrees: “Actually, if you want to see the
fireworks, it’s probably better to get a table at a club
with a terrace. Krisha Mira
(kryshamira.ru)
, meaning
‘roof of the world,’ is a fashionable place, with a great
view over the city.”
Most clubs serve food in Moscow and at New
Year, tables will be booked in advance. Revellers order
not just Shampanskoye (a sweet, cheap, Russian take
on Champagne), but also spiced-up versions of the
Olivier salad. Aloha Bar
(alohabar.ru)
, a Hawaiian-
themed venue, replaces the customary Spamwith tiger
prawns, while the New Year menu at Beef and Reef
Moscow yule
New Year’s Eve has always been Russia’s
biggest party and now its residents
are finding newways to celebrate
