The "Big Theater" festival will take place in Nizhny Novgorod from June 26 to June 28.

      In Nizhny Novgorod, from June 26 to June 28, the city theater festival "Big Theater" will take place, uniting the leading theaters of the city, independent groups, and street venues into a single cultural space. The project is implemented with the support of the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives and is timed to the 150th anniversary of the Union of Theater Workers of Russia, as well as the 90th anniversary of the Nizhny Novgorod regional branch of the Union of Theater Workers of the Russian Federation. The central venue of the festival will be Bolshaya Pokrovskaya Street, which is considered the main theatrical route of the city, connecting historical buildings, cultural institutions, and new creative spaces. The concept of the festival is built around the idea of "Path," which can be interpreted as the path of the theater, the actor, the performance, and the viewer. "We hope that the 'Big Theater' festival will become an important cultural event not only for Nizhny Novgorod but for the entire region. The main idea is in the reversibility of theater and its reverse side. Usually, the audience comes to the theater, but here the theater itself comes to meet the person. Theater is not just the result we see on stage. Theater is an endless process, a living organism, which is why the key concept is called 'Path.' We change the usual perception: the audience gets inside the theatrical workshop. They see how a performance is created, how a hero is born, how an actor changes, how a story is built, and what the magic of theater consists of. For us, it is important to show theater as a living space of search, experiment, memory, dialogue, and constant movement," noted Sergey Kabailo, chairman of the regional branch of the Union of Theater Workers of Russia. Within the project, state theaters, independent groups, educational venues, and theatrical communities of the city will unite. The festival will feature the Nizhny Novgorod State Academic Drama Theater named after M. Gorky, the Nizhny Novgorod State Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet named after A.S. Pushkin, the Nizhny Novgorod State Academic Puppet Theater, the Nizhny Novgorod Theater "Comedy," the Nizhny Novgorod Young Spectator Theater, the Center for Theatrical Mastery, the Nizhny Novgorod Theater "Faith," the theater of musical and plastic drama "Transformation," as well as independent theater groups "Netheatre," "Camera Junker," "Kvarta," the theater "On Happy," and other representatives of the regional theater community. As part of the festival, academic theaters will go beyond the usual stage: performances, concerts, creative meetings, and special projects will be presented in open urban spaces. The festival for all guests of the city will begin with a large concert in an open area featuring an orchestra and invited artists. However, "Big Theater" is not limited to performances. The festival program will include more than 30 events of various formats. Over three days, viewers will be able to see street versions of performances, theatrical stand-ups, lectures, documentary projects, multimedia shows, exhibitions of theatrical costumes and sketches, as well as participate in backstage tours of the leading theaters of the city.

      A separate direction will be a series of video podcasts and author meetings dedicated to the history of Nizhny Novgorod theater and its modern development. The program will also include special projects dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of the People's Artist of the USSR, Yevgeny Evstigneev. You can follow the news of the project in the community on the social network "VKontakte" https://vk.com/bt_fest.

      More news about the event:

      Nizhny Novgorod will become a venue for the All-Russian project "Theatrical Train." Participants of the project will present eight productions in our region. Nizhny Novgorod will become a venue for the All-Russian touring project "Theatrical Train," 20:47 08.06.2026 Time N - Nizhny Novgorod

      The festival "Big Theater" will take place in Nizhny Novgorod from June 26 to June 28. In Nizhny Novgorod, from June 26 to June 28, the city theater festival "Big Theater" will take place, uniting the leading theaters of the city, independent groups, and street venues into a single cultural space. 17:47 08.06.2026 Nizhny Novgorod Truth - Nizhny Novgorod

      The festival "Big Theater" will take place in Nizhny Novgorod. In Nizhny Novgorod, from June 26 to June 28, the city theater festival "Big Theater" will take place, uniting the leading theaters of the city, independent groups, and street venues into a single cultural space. 17:46 08.06.2026 NTA-Privolzhye - Nizhny Novgorod

      The festival "Big Theater" will take place in Nizhny Novgorod from June 26 to June 28. In Nizhny Novgorod, from June 26 to June 28, the city theater festival "Big Theater" will take place, uniting the leading theaters of the city, independent groups, and street venues into a single cultural space. 17:35 08.06.2026 Government of the Nizhny Novgorod Region - Nizhny Novgorod

      News from neighboring regions on the topic:

      All-Russian cultural events will take place in the Ulyanovsk region ahead of Russia Day. From June 10 to June 12, events of the All-Russian project "Theatrical Train," which is implemented with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives, will take place in the region. 22:05 08.06.2026 Ministry of Arts and Cultural Policy - Ulyanovsk

      The Theatrical Train will arrive in Kirov. The All-Russian project "Theatrical Train" will unite more than 5,000 artists and 160 theaters of Russia, regional culture officials said. 20:32 08.06.2026 GTRK Vyatka - Kirov

      The National Youth Theater of the Republic of Bashkortostan named after Mustai Karim presented a performance in Sevastopol. The performance of the National Youth Theater of the Republic of Bashkortostan named after Mustai Karim "Playing Pushkin: The Swan Princess" (6+) took place on the stage of the Sevastopol Young Spectator Theater. 22:18 08.06.2026 Ministry of Culture - Ufa

      The program of the X Theater Festival "Tolstoy" in the museum-estate "Yasnaya Polyana" has been announced. From July 3 to July 5, 2026, the X anniversary theater festival will take place in the museum-estate "Yasnaya Polyana." 18:53 08.06.2026 Ministry of Culture and Tourism - Tula

      The Moscow Drama Theater named after Gogol has begun its tour on the Tver stage. From June 8 to June 11, performances of the Moscow Drama Theater named after N.V. Gogol will be shown on the stage of the Tver Academic Drama Theater as part of the "Big Tours" program. 18:33 08.06.2026 Newspaper All Tver - Tver

      "... in the attic of Prince Shakhovsky" in the Glinkovsky district. A multi-genre festival "... in the attic of Prince Shakhovsky" took place in the Glinkovsky district. 18:31 08.06.2026 Glinkovsky District - Glinka

      "From monoplays to promenades": Artem Kibaridin and Ekaterina Kolomoychenko talk about the street theater festival in St. Petersburg. The VI Youth Festival "On Karpovka" will take place on July 5. Photo: personal archive. Less than a month remains until that moment. 18:07 08.06.2026 Spbdnevnik.ru - St. Petersburg

      The results of the All-Russian theater project were summed up at the Ryazan Drama Theater. Events of the All-Russian project "The Warmth of the Native Home" took place at the Ryazan Drama Theater from June 3 to June 5. 18:05 08.06.2026 IA MediaRyazan - Ryazan

      Behind the scenes of the puppet kingdom. On June 8, the staff of the model library-branch No. 18 held an art hour "Behind the Scenes of the Puppet Kingdom" for the 60th anniversary of the opening of the Belgorod State Puppet Theater and the 150th anniversary of the Union of Theater Workers. 18:01 08.06.2026 Centralized Library System of Belgorod - Belgorod

      From July 3 to July 5, the X theater festival "Tolstoy" will take place in Yasnaya Polyana. From July 3 to July 5, 2026, the X anniversary theater festival will take place in the museum-estate "Yasnaya Polyana." 17:56 08.06.2026 Government of the Region - Tula

      A special "Intonation": at the festival in Belgorod, the performance was played out by flashlight. Photo: Ministry of Culture of Belgor