This Friday, August 22, Russian and foreign participants, as well as the organizers of the Seventeenth Spasskaya Tower International Military Music Festival, took part in the solemn wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow’s Alexander Garden.
To the elegant melodies composed by the renowned Russian authors, Mr Sergey Khlebnikov, Artistic Director of the Spasskaya Tower Military Tattoo, Major General Timofey Mayakin, Music Director of the Festival, and Mr Sergey Smirnov, Head of the Directorate, laid the wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, as did the heads of the foreign participants’ delegations.
"Today is the day of our opening, and it has already become a cherished tradition for foreign delegations taking part in the Spasskaya Tower International Military Tattoo to lay flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on this day. All of them treat the ceremony with great respect and pay tribute to the memory of the fallen soldiers", noted Mr Khlebnikov following the ceremony.
“We take great pride in the work we are doing. At the outset of our endeavors in 2007, we merely sought to underscore that the centuries-old traditions of military music and ceremonies in Russia are comparable to those of prestigious events like the Edinburgh Festival. However, as the years have progressed, we have evolved into one of the world’s top three military tattoos”, stated Mr Khlebnikov.
According to the Festival’s Artistic Director, every year the organizers quite in advance choose the leading theme of the Festival, aiming at introducing the audiences at home and abroad to Russia’s rich history, full of landmark achievements and emblematic events. “In 2025, we will be celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Great Patriotic War Victory and pay homage to all those who have been bravely fighting for their homeland”, underscored Mr Khlebnikov.
He stated that the Festival's organizing committee continues to maintain relationships with the majority of Spasskaya Tower participants from previous years. "We have already hosted participants from 59 countries with whom we continue to interact and maintain friendship. They perceive our hospitality as sincere rather than ostentatious. We are nice folks. When someone approaches us peacefully, we return the favor. The foreign participants who are currently unable to visit us due to political constraints are eagerly anticipating their return to Red Square, and we would be delighted to welcome them again", said Mr Khlebnikov.
The Spasskaya Tower Festival is a collection of awe-inspiring evening performances staged in the very heart of the Russian capital, with each show being a genuine theatrical masterpiece composed of a prologue, participants' individual sketches, an epilogue and an impressive massed band finale, annually bringing together over 1500 musicians from all over the globe.
Since 2007, the Spasskaya Tower Festival has been carried out following the order of President of Russia Vladimir Putin and under the aegis of the Public Council headed by Mr. Alexander Zhukov, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. The tattoo also enjoys the unwavering organisational and/or financial support of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Culture, and Moscow Government Department of Culture.
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