Almaty City Day is a day in name only. Though it is technically celebrated on the third Sunday of September, city residents and visitors will be celebrating their city throughout the month of September.
This year, the holiday programme will be opened by the Fifth Arbat Fest International Festival of Contemporary Art. The festival will include art exhibitions, workshops as well as dance and drama performances on city streets. A unique multi-sensor exhibition of Van Gogh masterpieces that immerses guests in the artist’s vibrant colours and vivid details has already opened in the Space Gallery, Kazakhstan’s first multimedia gallery.
The annual Festival of Puppet Theatre of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) will take place in Almaty from Sept. 5 to 12. The Almaty – My First Love retro music festival will launch on Sept. 6 and include Kazakh as well as foreign artists. And a traditional open air orchestra parade will entertain Almaty residents Sept. 10 and 12.
The Omsk State Drama Theatre tour will also take place in Almaty as part of the City Day celebration programme. The premiere of the “Magic Flute” fairy tale will be on Sept. 15 in the Natalya Saz Russian Theatre for Children and Youth. The “Abai” opera staged by Italian directors Andrea Cini and Benito Leonori will also premiere on the Abai Kazakh State Opera and Ballet Theatre stage in September.
Almaty residents can also visit a Eurasia film festival, which will take place Sept. 15-21, a concert dedicated to the new Gakku TV Channel opening on Sept. 13, a song contest about Almaty on Sept. 17, an annual Muz Zone music award ceremony on Sept. 20, an Apple Fest and a firework show on Sept. 21.
Last year, City Day celebrations drew a crowd of more than 120,000 and this year’s crowd is expected to be even larger.
