Traditionally, Moscow celebrates City Day on the first Saturday in September. In 2012, the capital's birthday fell on September 1, coinciding with the Day of Knowledge. The holiday was held under the motto "The Best City of the Earth".
The Department of Culture of Moscow has planned about 600 different events to celebrate the 865th anniversary of the city. According to the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in Moscow, more than 1.5 million Muscovites took part in them. About 160 million dollars were spent on organizing the holiday, with 35 million being allocated by sponsors.
Before the opening of the holiday, the participants of the festival of military bands "Spasskaya Tower" march along Tverskaya Street. The opening ceremony began on Red Square with the laying of wreaths at the memorials to fallen soldiers. Its main part was the production “City of Love. Era in Dance”, in which two thousand dancers showed the main events from the history of the city.
The capital's libraries prepared thematic evenings for their visitors, and also held an action "Sign up to the library!" Museum institutions organized special expositions, which were free of charge. And 7 museums near Moscow took part in the youth art festival "Boulevard of Arts", held on Tsvetnoy, Neglinny, Rozhdestvensky and Petrovsky boulevards.
On Poklonnaya Hill, a concert "Festival of Moscow Festivals" took place, the program of which was made by organizers of musical events of various directions - from jazz to pop music. Songs from famous musicals were performed on Pushkinskaya Square as part of Moscow Broadway, and a concert of young performers entitled “Moscow. Youth. Music".
Fans of outdoor activities could go to family sports competitions and the festival of workouts and parkour in Luzhniki. Tetralny Proezd became the site for the Guinness Book of Records competition.
At the end of the holiday, fireworks were launched at four sites at once: in Troitsk, on the Cosmonauts Alley, Vasilievsky Spusk and Poklonnaya Hill.
Head of the Department of Culture Sergei Kapkov noted that when planning events for the capital's birthday, the department's employees tried to create a model of an ideal city. He believes that it will be necessary to strive to implement it after the end of the celebrations. According to the idea, every resident of the capital should have the opportunity to choose entertainment to their liking. So that everyone can watch the broadcast of events in different parts of the city, the Moscow 24 TV channel, with the support of the Information Technology Department, launched the 1001 Cameras project.
