Cultural Programme

The 173-metre Cape Green, the highest in Murmansk, rises high above Semenovskoye Lake. At its summit is a memorial in honour of the ‘Defenders of the Soviet Arctic during the Great Patriotic War’. This massive monument to the soldiers who stood up to invaders during the Great Patriotic War opened on 19 October 1974, on the 30th anniversary of the defeat of the fascist troops in the Arctic. The memorial was designed by architect Igor Pokrovsky and sculptor Isaak Brodsky. The funds to build the memorial were raised based on an initiative among the workers of the Rezets floating workshop.
Construction began on 17 October 1969 and lasted five years.
A 35.5-metre-tall Soviet soldier looks down on the city from a seven-metre-tall pedestal.
It is one of the tallest monuments in Russia. The sculpture of the Arctic defender is hollow inside, but its weight exceeds 5,000 tonnes. Murmansk residents have affectionately nicknamed the concrete giant Alyosha.

h2o +, ‘Art about Water and More...’
Exhibition of works from the collection of the Siyanie Contemporary Art Centre and works from the collections of Vladimir Nekrasov and Andrey Malakhov that are being donated to the Murmansk Regional Art Museum.

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The exposition ‘Business before Pleasure’ showcases the talents of craftsmen not only from the Murmansk Region (Murmansk, Nikel, Kandalaksha, and Olenegorsk), but also from other cities of Russia (Vologda, Cherepovets, Nizhny Novgorod, and Kargopol).
The exposition is divided into two main blocks:
• The first takes up most of the hall and mainly consists of utilitarian items or things that could be found in peasant homes and the daily activities of humans in the past, the main goal of which was to make life easier: a loom, spinning wheel, whorl, roller, smoother, saddle, heel, fishing pole, box, and kitchen utensils.
• The second part of the exhibition is noticeably smaller and focuses on objects that were used during times of inactivity, primarily by children – dibstones, rattles, horses, wooden birds, and trinkets.
Both themes are also deftly intertwined in additional sections of the exhibition, which are dedicated to weaving from roots and birch bark and painting on wood, as well as the art of weaving.

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The exhibition will include roughly 100 unique items from the collections of Kola Peninsula museums. It will depict certain aspects of the development of the Northern Sea Route and tell the stories behind the artists who celebrate the Arctic and who visited it for the first time during scientific expeditions to study the Arctic territories, sea routes, and the treasures of the ocean.
Phenomenon of ‘expeditionary fine art’
The ability to draw was one of the most important components of the expedition, since the expedition artists were the ones who recorded geographical sites with topographic accuracy and properly depicted the peoples who inhabit hard-to-reach territories and their way of life.

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The fair will feature works by Arctic artisans, including unique souvenirs that tell the story of the Arctic expanses, original jewellery that preserves the light of the polar night, and housewares carved with love from local materials.
Visit the fair to not only buy some rare items, but to also immerse yourself in the atmosphere of a real northern fairy tale.

Admission is free.

There will be a twenty-five-metre tunnel on Ulitsa Vorovskovo with ice engravings dedicated to the 500th anniversary of the opening of the Northern Sea Route.
In addition to the exhibition, Forum guests can visit an ice bar at which Murmansk producers will present Arctic beverages.

Admission is free.

The traditional Taste of the Arctic gastronomic festival will be held on Ulitsa Vorovskovo in Murmansk on 25–30 March 2025. A collaborative team of restaurateurs and chefs from the regions of Russia’s Arctic zone will present a menu of Arctic cuisine, which broadly consists of products from the northern seas and producers in the northern regions.
In 2025, more than 15 catering enterprises from Russia’s Arctic regions will take part in the gastronomic festival, which will also feature a fair of souvenirs from the Murmansk Region and the Taste the North ice bar.
During the festival, the office of the Murmansk Region’s Tourist Information Centre will be open for northerners and guests of the International Arctic Forum, where the city’s residents and guests will be able to learn about popular tourist programmes and purchase a Polar Explorer Passport.
The festival will also continue the highly popular Arctic Post tradition of guests sending their loved ones exclusive commemorative postcards from the Arctic.
There will also be entertainment and music programmes, prize draws, and much more.

Admission is free.

The Murmansk Regional Museum of Local Lore is the largest museum in the region and immerses visitors in the history and nature of the Kola Peninsula. In March 2025, the museum reopened its historic building following major renovations to present brand-new exhibits that combine modern technology and authentic historical artifacts.
What should guests expect?
• 14 thematic halls with exhibits about the Murmansk Region dating from ancient times to the present day
• Authentic items reflecting the richness of Arctic nature and culture
• New exhibits prepared according to contemporary museum standards that showcase the uniqueness of the Murmansk Region through the prism of history, ecology, and technology
The museum offers visitors both an educational and an inspiring experience that helps provide a better understanding of the past, present, and future of the Arctic. It’s the perfect place to feel a connection with the history of the region, which plays a key role in the development of Russia’s Arctic zone. The visit to the museum will be a vivid and memorable event for the Forum guests and will emphasize the Murmansk Region’s importance as a centre of Arctic culture and science.
The museum staff will conduct special tours for Forum guests every day at specific times. During normal working hours, you can explore the museum on your own or as part of sightseeing groups.
Don’t miss your chance to see the renovated museum – a place where history comes to life!

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Tours:
26 March 17:00
27 March 09:00
28 March 11:00

Arctic Dialogue is a regional project that enables young northerners to personally communicate with famous people.

The series of meetings has been held since 2022. Guests share their success stories with young people and answer various questions about their careers, self-fulfilment, education, volunteering, starting their own business, and implementing initiatives. The main goal of the project is to show children what kind of opportunities and prospects are available in the Murmansk Region.
During the IAF, Forum participants and speakers will have a chance to speak to Murmansk residents.

Admission is free for Forum participants.

Grandma Purga has a favourite granddaughter named Little Blizzard, a cunning, mischievous, capricious girl, who does not want to help others or work, and only does things for herself.

One day, Little Blizzard met and befriended a boy named Tirva in a forest clearing. They started playing together, but then they had a quarrel. Tirva wanted to go home, but couldn’t find his way because it was dark.

Will Little Blizzard be able to save him and overcome her whims and selfishness?

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This immersive documentary audio reenactment tells about the events that occurred in Murmansk on 18 June 1942, when more than 12,000 bombs were dropped on Murmansk.
18 June is now celebrated as the Day of Fortitude and Courage of Murmansk Residents during the Great Patriotic War.
All Murmansk schoolchildren know that on this day the northern city was subjected to the most terrible bombing of all Great Patriotic War and completely burned down. But this is not actually the case; the city was not burned to the ground. Visitors will get a first-hand view of many of the things that the residents of frontline Murmansk saw on that terrible and heroic day.
The main characters of the performance are real people who will tell about how they personally survived the awful bombing of Murmansk on that fateful day, how they found and saved kids from a local kindergarten, how they took them to a safe place, and how mothers were looking for their children among the fires.
These heroes include Mikhail Zharnikov, a tower observer who was the first to see and notify the townspeople about the enemy air raid, Alexander Voronin, chief of staff of the Maritime Polar Air unit of Murmansk’s Kirovsky District (now the Oktyabrsky District), who helped rescue kids from the burning kindergarten, and Vasily Goltsov, the head of a freight yard at the Murmansk station, whose house burned down before his eyes, yet he remained at his post. There will also be many other people whose fates completely changed on 18 June 1942.

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The plot is based on the heroic expedition that Soviet submariners took to the top of the Northern Hemisphere in 1962 during a period of heightened confrontation between the USSR and USA. The first Soviet nuclear submarine Leninsky Komsomol passed under the ice pack of the Arctic Ocean and surfaced in close proximity to the pole for the first time in world history. The expedition, which was the first of its kind at the time and is comparable in terms of its complexity to the first spaceflights, was intended to demonstrate the power of the latest technologies of the USSR’s young nuclear navy and the outstanding skills of Soviet submariners.

The main roles in the film are played by Russian movie stars Andrey Merzlikin, Yevgeny Mironov, and Elena Sever.

Directed by: Alexander Kott
Written by: Denis Rodimin and Roman Vladykin
Production: Central Partnership, Russian North, with the involvement of the Okko online cinema and with the support of the Cinema Fund.

Admission is free.

It’s the grand opening of Zoya Pelts’s tailor shop! Beautiful outfits aren’t the only thing sold here; it also sells people’s most cherished dreams, so its mannequins are ready to show off more than just dresses...
Take a trip to Paris for Christmas, drown in blooming lilacs, become the king or queen of red Moscow for a couple of hours.
Helpful Chinamen pop off champagne corks with daggers, the Count himself plays blues at the piano, and the Administrator is a volcano of passion and charm!
But be careful: snakes, dragons, nymphs, and demons are hiding behind the masks of ordinary citizens... The intoxicating ‘Bulgakov Mysticism’ awaits you in the TAILOR SHOP!

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