Blini, Bonfires, and Folk Fun: Moscow Maslenitsa
A cheerful Russian festival of pancakes, music, and springtime rituals.
Maslenitsa is one of Russia’s oldest and most loved celebrations. It's a dynamic, booming farewell to winter and a way to welcome spring. For a whole week, the city leans into simple joys: stacks of blini (thin pancakes), folk games, songs, dancing, and outdoor festivities that feel both deeply rooted in tradition and wonderfully modern. Here's what Maslenitsa means and how to experience it in Moscow this year.
Why Does Maslenitsa Still Matter?
Maslenitsa marks the transition from winter to spring and sits right before Great Lent in the Orthodox calendar, which is why it’s often called “Butter Week” (meat is traditionally avoided, while dairy is still allowed). The festival blends pre-Christian seasonal rituals with later Orthodox customs, and at its heart is one symbol everyone understands — blinis. Round, golden, and served hot with everything from sour cream and jam to savoury fillings, blini represent the sun, warmth, and abundance.
Maslenitsa also comes with a whole set of playful traditions: sledding, circle dances (khorovods), games and competitions, decorative ribbons, and large public gatherings that turn parks and squares into open-air parties. The most eye-catching ritual is the burning of the Maslenitsa effigy — a symbolic goodbye to winter, with fire standing for cleansing and renewal. The week traditionally ends with Forgiveness Sunday, when people ask each other for forgiveness before the start of Lent.
How Moscow Will Celebrate in 2026
This year, Moscow’s Maslenitsa festivities run from 13 to 22 February, filling the city with bright colours, folk energy, and the scent of freshly made blini. Expect interactive programmes, concerts, performances, workshops, and plenty of food. The city will be fully in festive mode!
- 13–22 February — Moscow Seasons venues
Folk performances, themed creative workshops, traditional games and sports, plus the festival’s “strongest resident” contests. - 13–22 February — Tverskoy Boulevard
An interactive programme with workshops, prize draws, and public talks, as well as a market showcasing local brands, a food station, and restaurants serving creative blinis. - 21 February — North & South River Stations
Free treats and a large entertainment programme: performances, animation shows, fairground carousels, and active games.
- 22 February — Moscow's Parks
All-day Maslenitsa celebrations: performances, concerts, dancing, circle dances, relay races, and other activities. - 21–22 February — VDNH
Maslenitsa festivities as part of the Winter of Gifts programme within the Warmer Together winter festival: contests with fairytale characters, interactive game stations, peddlers, strongman shows, stilt walkers and jugglers, a Maslenitsa puppet production, a folk band, festive interactive parades with a giant Maslenitsa figure, and a DJ set.
If you want Maslenitsa at its best, plan for two things: warm layers and an appetite. The rest — music, laughter, and that first hint of spring — Moscow will handle.
