The Festival of Small Tourist Towns is a large-scale event project designed to become a model for the cultural renewal of small towns in Russia.
The project is organized by the Association of Small Tourist Towns with the support of the Ministry of Culture Russian Federation. This year the festival was held in Suzdal from June 16 to 18, 2017, where participants discussed the prospects for the development of provincial cities, including the issues of attracting tourists. The main focus of the holiday was gastronomic brands and souvenirs from the Golden Ring.
The delegation of the city of Gorokhovets was headed by the head of the administration of the Gorokhovets district Alexey Alekseevich Bubela, who actively participated in the V anniversary Congress of mayors of small towns, on the topic "Small towns - big culture". Alexey Alekseevich made a presentation on cultural life of the city of Gorokhovets and on the implementation of projects in preparation for the celebration of the 850th anniversary of the city. 
Particular attention at the festival was given to gastronomic tourism and Russian cuisine. As part of the festival, a gastronomic competition was held Form style in a small town”, which was attended by the director of the restaurant “Zhemchuzhina” Anna Evgenievna Prokhorova.
In the nomination "Gastronomic souvenir of the city" Gorokhovetsky gingerbread souvenirs were presented, the old recipes of which were revived in the restaurant. The Zhemchuzhina restaurant was awarded a diploma for preserving traditions. The festival program was very rich, several venues worked simultaneously, where gastronomic competitions, training seminars, master classes, and exhibitions of presentation of the tourist potential of AMTG cities were held. The potential of the city of Gorokhovets was presented by the tourist information center. 
In a costumed festive procession through the city of Suzdal and at the grand opening of the festival, a presentation of our city was made by folk ensemble songs "Expansion".
An exhibition-fair of folk crafts and master classes in arts and crafts were held at the Torgovaya Square in the city of Suzdal. Gorokhovetsky products and souvenirs, which were presented by craftsmen and specialists of the inter-settlement House folk art and crafts, were very popular not only among local residents, but also from foreign guests from China and England.
On the closing day, according to the tradition of the festival, the laying of an apple orchard took place. The symbol of the festival was solemnly handed over to the city of Tobolsk (Tyumen region) and the IV Festival of Small Tourist Towns of Russia in 2018 year will pass exactly there.
According to the materials of the department of culture, youth and sports of the Gorohovets region.
(Visited 2 times, 1 visits today)
related posts:
Gorokhovets will take part in the II Festival of Small…- 11 cities of the region will take part in the All-Russian…
09.07.2015
On July 11, Uglich will host the first Festival of Small Towns in Russia, which is planned to become an annual event. About how the idea of this festival came about, and what goals the organizers set for themselves, we talked with the director of the Association of Small Tourist Towns, Elena Frantsevna Kaneva.
- Elena Frantsevna, tell us how the idea of creating such a festival came about, and what is its task?
We borrowed the idea of the festival from our friendly Association "The most beautiful small towns in Italy" ((I borghipiu´ bellid´Italia)). Last year, as part of the cross year of tourism between Russia and Italy, we signed a cooperation agreement and went to our partners at the festival of small beautiful cities in Italy (Borghi). Its essence is that several cities of the Association come to one city and present to the audience various aspects of their life: culture, architecture, and national color: costumes, food, jewelry, crafts. It's great that in one place at one moment everything that lives is shown Small town. It turns out such a voluminous picture of him. There is nothing like this in Russia - sometimes there are craft fairs or food fairs, but not a single festival has an integrated approach, when cities could show all their possibilities at once. Of course, we worked on the program and on the concept, introduced our vision - our festival is not a direct copy of Italian. 12 cities that are members of the Association of Small Tourist Cities or are candidates will take part in it: Uglich, Azov, Dmitrov, Yelabuga, Suzdal, Kungur, Myshkin, Tobolsk, Solikamsk, Gorokhovets, Kargopol, Yelets. And we presented the main mission of the festival as follows: “formation and promotion of a positive image of the Russian provinces”. We think that the best way to do this is through such events.
The festival is organized by the Association of Small Tourist Towns, tell us more about it, how did it appear and why was it created?
The association was established in 2007. Uglich was its initiator, and we quickly found mutual language with Suzdal. Then, almost immediately, three more cities joined us, and the Association had a fairly long history of five cities. Like any undertaking, it was quite difficult to develop it from scratch - not all cities could see the benefits of the merger. It was not easy to find a dialogue with the federal authorities, but gradually it improved. special attention we received when tourism was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Culture. They really believe in the potential of small towns as tourist centers, and this support and this attention are very important to us. The main idea of the Association is the joint promotion of small tourist towns in Russia. We create a common brand, ask enough high level service for tourists - and we offer him not just one city, not just an option to spend one weekend, but a number of cities that are completely different, but at the same time equally interesting and advanced in the field of tourism. And if a person liked one of the cities of the Association, then he will have an incentive to go to others.
Which cities are now members of the Association, what are their similarities and why do you think that they should be promoted all together, in one event?
Now the Association includes 12 cities: 8 full members - Uglich, Azov, Dmitrov, Yelabuga, Suzdal, Kungur, Myshkin, Tobolsk and 4 cities that are in the process of joining: Solikamsk, Gorokhovets, Kargopol, Yelets. Of course, all these cities are different, both in terms of distance from the capital and in terms of fame. But they are very similar in their tourism potential - these are cities with great story, with the preserved historical buildings of a small Russian city, with its own traditions, legends, features. And it is very important that in each of these cities, local authorities and businesses are actively working to attract tourists: there are good hotels, and interesting museums, and festivals, developed routes. That is, these are the cities that are already interesting to come and spend time in, this is the advanced echelon of Russian provincial tourism. And by creating common events, we set an important informational occasion that will be noticeable at the federal level, attract the attention of both the media and ordinary residents - potential tourists. Of course, a resident of Moscow, having arrived for the weekend, for example, in Uglich and received information here about other cities of the Association, will not immediately go from here to Tobolsk. But he will at least already know what is interesting there - and maybe in the future he will plan a trip there, linking it to some kind of business trip or even planning a vacation. Creating such a festival, we, of course, understand that the return from it for each particular city will not be instantaneous. This is work for the future, work on the formation of a positive image of the Russian provinces, this is the development of domestic tourism, the acquaintance of our fellow citizens and foreign guests with the culture and history of Russia.
Do not be afraid that the Festival of Small Towns, which will be held, for example, in Solikamsk, will come fewer people than to a festival in Suzdal, if only because it is farther away?
The bottom line is that this event story creates a news story in which people will hear about the city. Even if in some year there will be fewer visitors, it's not scary. It is important that people have already gone there. It is very difficult for a small town to independently create an inciting news occasion - and here the echo effect will work just when so many participants are announced at the event at once. It automatically becomes more interesting - both for viewers and for journalists. In addition, each city participating in the festival writes about it, and therefore writes about the other 11 cities. We really hope for this cumulative effect in order to shake the silence that now exists around the small towns of Russia. Well, we must not forget that Russia is not only the central strip. Those who live nearby will come to the festival in Tobolsk and Kungur - residents of Siberia, the Urals. Here people are not spoiled by a large number of events, so holding such holidays is all the more important. Well, all this as a whole will give that information wave that will draw people's attention to these cities, encourage them to come to them, to be interested in their country. It is possible that this is another important component of the mission of our project as a whole.
But if every year the festival is held in different cities, how will it be possible to preserve its general style?
This is where we see a great advantage - the festival should not be boring, it should not be the same. We have a common concept and common events “stitching” each festival, which will become a kind of beacons. But the whole real program will be based on the benefits of living in a small town and local features host city. Every year the main theme of the festival will be chosen. This year it is, for example, "Hospitality", in the next years it is household, neighborhood, friendly landscape, safe childhood, ecology, provincial pace of life, architectural environment. The theme will change every year. Each festival will take into account local conditions and features - this will just make the festival diverse. After all, it is important that every year you want to come to it - therefore, it is not our task to show the same thing. But there will be several very important elements of this holiday, which will be repeated from year to year. First, it is a costume procession. All cities will participate in it. For example, this year 220 participants will come to Uglich with their costumes and theatrical performances. But besides the guests from the Association, we really want both citizens and tourists to join the procession. We really want to create an atmosphere of creativity and a holiday of the people, to revive the tradition of colorful festivities so this is one of important events festival every year. Another obligatory unifying element will be gastronomic rows - where each region will be able to show, and each guest will be able to taste local dishes and products. In the program of the festival of small towns, we plan to introduce a business program, to which we will invite experts in various areas of city life and, of course, representatives of political authorities - in order to initiate a discussion important issues and topics. And in each new city, we will plant an orchard, which will become a symbol of our common cause that will bear fruit. And the mayors of all cities will knead the dough for a common loaf - as a symbol of the unification of the efforts of many to obtain a single result.
A costumed procession is good, but in order for it to be really beautiful, a lot of money is required - for tailoring costumes, preparing a script, directing, and solving technical problems. How are these issues resolved?
Yes, indeed, for such a large-scale event, considerable funds are needed. Therefore, the start of the Festival became possible due to the fact that it is a project of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. Further, we hope to involve various non-budgetary sources in the festival, among other things. This year, with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, sets of unique costumes were designed and sewn for each city, each of which corresponds to the culture and traditions of a particular city. Such costumes are a serious contribution to the development of the material and technical base of small towns. They will be "working" at various local and external events for a long time to come. For example, in Uglich this year the festival takes place on City Day. Next year the festival will move to another city, but we hope that the tradition of carnival processions on the City Day will already be established in Uglich - and these costumes will become the basis of future events. And of course, we really want to encourage the residents of the city to join, not to stand aside, to also dress up in National costumes studied their history and traditions. It's important to get people involved interesting idea in order to jointly form new formats of city events. Yes, the overall global goal of the festival is the development and promotion of cities in the Russian provinces. But we also have our own, local goal - to change the format of the celebration of the City Day. Change it from a standard event to colorful show for everyone: both guests and citizens. We hope that the traditions of the Festival of Small Towns will take root in Uglich for a long time.
- And what opportunities will the guests of the festival have, will they be able to really participate in some events?
Certainly! It was very important for us to make this festival interactive. In addition to the fact that we, of course, invite everyone to join the procession in costumes and outfits, there will be many other activities. Here we proceeded from the main theme of this year's festival - "Hospitality". This means that we open all doors to our guests. The "Ambassador's Yard" will be organized - where all the cities - participants will present themselves, including using interactive programs. Of course, we will show our home - Uglich as the host city. We will treat guests as hospitable hosts at a gastronomic fair, where you can not only taste local dishes, but also see how they are made, try to do it yourself. It will be possible to listen interesting stories about food traditions or learn how to make your own small business on local products. The history of Uglich will be presented in an interactive form at the fascinating quest "Historical Labyrinth", participating in which guests will be able to learn more about the city, show their ingenuity - in a playful way, with full involvement in the process. On the museum glade it will be possible to take part in animation programs private museums in Uglich. A large artisan yard will work - with master classes and game programs. We hope that everyone will find entertainment to their liking!
On August 6, at the All-Russian Spassky Fair in Yelabuga, Grand opening II Festival of small tourist towns of Russia.
The first word of greeting was given to the Chairman State Council RT Farid Mukhametshin. Following him, the head of the Yelabuga municipal district Gennady Emelyanov.
President of the Association of Small Tourist Towns (AMTG), Mayor of Uglich Sergey Maklakov expressed admiration for the scale of the Spasskaya Fair, which became a platform for the festival of small towns, calling the level of the fair international.
The Festival of Small Tourist Towns is a large-scale event project designed to become a model for the cultural renewal of small towns in Russia. The purpose of the event is to popularize the Russian provinces and further develop tourism in small towns, create a public platform for discussing the problems and strategies for the development of small towns and attracting the attention of the federal authorities to them.
The presentation of the cities included in the AMTG began with the host city - Yelabuga. Then the audience saw performances by artists from Yelets, Kungur and Myshkin, Tobolsk and Gorokhovets, Suzdal, Uglich and Kargopol. At that time, the leaders of these small historical towns went to the Yelabuga settlement, where an alley of fruit trees was planted on Millennium Square.
In the evening, at the closing ceremony of the festival, the city that will host the 2017 event was announced. Suzdal took over from Yelabuga.
In conclusion, the participants of the festival sang a song about the small towns of Russia, in which they are called the memory, conscience and wisdom of the Fatherland.
Other news of the Yelabuga State Historical-Architectural and art museum-reserve»
The festival is intended to become a model for the cultural and tourist renewal of Russia.
The main objective of the festival is to unite small towns on a common platform in order to jointly promote positive image Russian provinces and consolidation of resources for further development tourism.
The theme of the III Festival of Small Tourist Towns is "Small Town Gastronomy". At the stand of Uglich, there was a tasting of fermented milk products of the agricultural holding "AgriVolga", Russian cheese of the Uglich cheese factory.
The event was held at several venues: a festive fair of cities, a gala concert and a festive procession of AMTG representatives with the participation of creative teams at the Trade Square.
The novelty of the festival this year was its design, a new corporate identity of the Association of Small Tourist Cities "Great in small" was presented and adopted. Training seminars were held on the use of the new brand of the Association. Stands of cities, stage, videos, booklets - everything is done in the same style according to new concept AMTG. Each city has its own unique style, together the cities form the "Constellation of Small Towns of Russia"
At the solemn meeting of the festival dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the Association of Small Tourist Towns, the new President of the Association - the Head of the Uglich municipal district - Anatoly Gennadievich Kuritsin, was introduced.
The festival was attended by 13 member cities of the Association of Small Tourist Towns. The delegations of the cities of the Association included creative teams, chefs, representatives of folk art crafts and tourism specialists from city administrations and TIC, as well as business representatives interested in developing the gastronomic brand of their cities.
The business program of the festival included: round table with well-known experts in the field of gastronomy, a seminar on territory branding, culinary master classes. The program also included the gastronomic competition "Corporate Identity in a Small Town". Uglich was represented at the competition by the chefs of the "Avenue" restaurant, Maxim and Dmitry, who prepared "Pike perch in the Volga style". main goal competition was - the development and formation of a gastronomic brand of each city of AMTG and the Association as a whole. The competition included several nominations: the first was the presentation of a hot dish, which in the future could qualify for specialty of the house of the city, was connected with the history of the city and made from local products.
The second is the presentation of an apple dessert, which will be sold in every AMTG city in the future and serve as a unifying brand of the Association. Apple strudel was offered as Uglich's apple dessert. Dessert had to be prepared from apples, with a cost of no more than 80 rubles. The third is “a gastronomic souvenir of the city”. It had to be small in volume and weight, interesting in design and name, non-perishable and low cost, made from local products with their own history. Gingerbreads painted with glaze with images of the coat of arms of Uglich and the Chambers of appanage princes became a gastronomic souvenir of Uglich.
Representatives of Yelets, Kargopol, Myshkin, Kungur, Gorokhovets, Azov, Solikamsk, Tarusa, Yelabuga, Borovsk, Uglich, Tobolsk and Suzdal took part in the competition.
Vice-President of the Association of Small Tourist Towns Igor Kekhter introduced the chairman of the jury Olga Syutkina, culinary specialist and culinary historian.
Russian cuisine is not just sitting down and eating, - said Olga Syutkina. - It is rich and diverse, like the territory of Russia.
Olga Syutkina and her husband Pavel are not only the authors of a series of cookbooks. Recently in Paris culinary competition gourmet they took second place. Sergey Tkachev, the brand chef of the Academy, also joined the jury restaurant business, working in Rybinsk in the eponymous restaurant-pier and the owner of his own cheese factory and Leonid Gelibterman - presenter - President of the International Ethnogastronomic Center, Vice-President of the Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers of Russia.
By the end of the first festival day, the results of all three nominations were summed up. In the nomination "Main Dish" won the chefs of Kargopol with pike stew and blueberry pie. In the nomination "Desserts", the winners were Suzdal residents - Yuri Kovalchuk (chef of the "Ogurets" restaurant) and brand chef Maxim Rybakov (hotel complex "Pushkarskaya Sloboda"). Suzdal also won in the Gastronomic Souvenir nomination.
As part of the festival and the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the AMTG, representatives of the official delegation of the cities laid the apple orchard "10 years of AMTG" on the territory of the Spaso-Efimiev Monastery, and the Association of Small Tourist Towns received gratitude from the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation for the development of tourism in small towns of Russia. Gratitude was presented by the Deputy Minister of Culture A.Yu. Manilov at the 5th Congress of Mayors of Small Towns in Suzdal.
13 creative teams took part in the gala concert of the festival. Uglich presented dance group"Confetti". At the closing ceremony of the festival, the city that will host the 2018 event was announced. The city of Tobolsk took over from Suzdal.
From 16 to 18 June will be held III festival small tourist towns Russia. The venue for the event was the ancient Russian city of Suzdal, which is both one of the cities of the famous "" and a member of the Association of Small Tourist Cities. It is noteworthy that Suzdal will host the festival in the anniversary year for the Association. The festival itself will be held for the third time, in 2015 it was held in Uglich, in 2016 - in Yelabuga.
The festival program has already been fully formed by the joint efforts of the city and regional authorities, together with the Suzdal branch Vladimir-Suzdal Museum-Reserve. The program turned out to be rich, but its details have not yet been disclosed. It is known that in Suzdal several sites will work simultaneously, where each guest will be able to find something interesting for themselves. However, the focus of any venue will be the culinary brand of a particular region. main theme the festival will become a cultural and gastronomic diversity that can be found in as well as folk crafts. Many of them are almost lost and are more of a tourist attraction than a real craft. A large and noisy fair will operate in the central square.
Residents and guests of Suzdal are waiting for a colorful carnival procession along the main street. In it, each of the cities of the Association will present, as brightly as possible, their favorite city. The mayors of all cities will take part in the solemn landing " Orchard of Small Towns of Russia».
Help from Suitcase
Association of Small Tourist Towns(AMTG) of Russia was formed in 2007 for the joint development and promotion of tourism in provincial towns. All cities of the Association have a rich historical past, were founded no later than the 18th century, have a population of less than 150 thousand people, and have a developed tourist infrastructure. On this moment the Association includes such cities as Azov, Kungur,
