«What happiness it is that we live in this city.» A Report from New Year’s Moscow
In December 2025, Moscow began to be actively decorated for the New Year as part of the «Journey to Christmas» festival. Its prototype was the Strasbourg Christmas Market on Manezhnaya Square, which in December 2012 made a splash among Muscovites and visitors to the capital. After that, city hall decided to include the city’s Christmas celebration in the ongoing mega-festival «Moscow Seasons.» By 2026, however, little remained of Strasbourg and its Christmas traditions. But an imaginary Europe, now almost out of reach, still peeks through the New Year’s tinsel—just like other realities of recent years.
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