This one is worth posting for this great photo alone (thanks to Alexander Bosenko). But the sound itself is pretty remarkable as well.

Do you remember this? Listen to the the final minutes of St. Sergius Sky – a three-day hot air ballooning festival in Sergiyev Posad. We went up to the roof of Posadsky (ex Zagorsk) hotel that evening in pursuit of better pictures of the show. Sonic-wise, it was a good spot as well.

The building to the left (a block of flats) and to the right (the Corporation hq’s) contributed to a lovely echo. Festival director Yuri Vronets counts down to the altogether glow when all the balloons fire up their burners in the dark – fantastic! Then a street racer dashes along the Krasnoi Armii avenue, the town’s thoroughfare. DSLR’s shutter sequence. Wow! The burners hiss.

The doll at the centre of the photo is Matryoshka, or Russian doll. The one you see has been designed for the festival and is bearing 12 coat of arms representig each and every corner of Sergiyev Posad region.

Recorded July 18th, 2009

Published March 19th, 2010 (3.5 mb).

The only sporting event in Sergiyev Posad held by a newspaper, Vpered Ski Cup. This amateur race is in its 63rd year now, and it has changed its location only once moving from Kirovka at the town’s centre to Ferma, the nearby suburb.

The name of the newspaper Vpered could be translated as Forward which is really appropriate on this particular occasion. There’s a story told from generation to generation at the editorial office about one executive secretary in the 70′s who used to go to work not by foot, not by bus or even bike. On a snowy day he always arrived sporting a pair of skis.

Here’s the countdown at the start. On a closer listen one may discover the judge’ mumbling: Damn it, my pen is blown away!

Yes, it was a really windy day.

Recorded February 21st, 2010
Published March 14th, 2010 (2.4 mb).

January 25th is the day when every Russian student has a good choice of reasons for celebration.

First, the official one – this is a Students Day in Russia, officialy established in 2005. Secondly, on January 25th the memory of St Tatiana – the patron saint of students – is revered. And finally, the Moscow State University was founded on that day a long long time ago.

Even then the student’s street revelries and spree were tolerared by the police on Tatiana’s Day. Still, it’s all about fun, discos, contests, comedy nights and dancing parties. I went to one of those parties at the open-air skating rink in Sergiyev Posad.

At minus 23° Celsius (that’s minus 9.4° Fahrenheit) outside this was a part of my job to go there, and I’d think twice if it wasn’t. In this heavily cross-faded sound recording you will hear skates vs ice grind, laughter and voices, the upbeat music that played there, the hosts and the lord-mayor’s brief speech at the opening ceremony, possibly a few frost-broken cables and laptops, and the senior generation of staff – Galina Vasil’yevna at the skates hire point and Irina from the cloackroom – being asked to describe the youngsters with only one word. ‘Smart’ and ‘flippant’ they said.

Photo by Alexey Sevastianov.

Recorded January 25th, 2010
Published February 5th, 2010 (2.4 mb).

An emotional response from the people watching the rifle-armed skier hitting the target at the so called polar biathlon contest at the Meteor arena in a town called Peresvet near Sergiyev Posad. It’s easy to tell whether the shot was good or not so good by the nature of the response.

Recorded January 24th, 2010
Published January 30th, 2010 (1.1 mb).

It’s the calendar shift again. The Old New Year (Jan 13th) is a flashback to the commonly recognized New Year night, the 31st of December widely celebrated in Russia. But according to Julian calendar which was in use our country up to 1918, the year 2010 will come into its own only now, two weeks later. If you have such a deep love for celebrations as the Russians are having you should not miss the chance. These fireworks were recorded within the last hour of Gregorian style 2009.

Recorded December 31st, 2009
Published January 13th, 2010 (2.1 mb).

Christmas Eve chimes and the bells ringing on the next day – а few minutes spent in Trinity Sergius Lavra in Sergiyev Posad, one of the main Orthodox monasteries in Russia. Note: the old Julian calendar is still in use in the Russian Orthodox Church and Christmas is officially celebrated on the 7th of January, not 12/25.

Recorded January 6th and 7th, 2010
Published January 8th, 2010 (3.6 mb).

For the first time in Sergiyev Posad (and probably in the whole of modern Russia) the New Year celebrations didn’t take place for religious reasons. As It’s been reported that the newly elected lord-mayor decided not to propose any street festivities on this night because of the Orthodox Advent fast. Radonezhye, the local TV station produced an alternative event on that very night for all the people of Sergiyev Posad providing a live broadcast of the party. Definitely something to be enjoyed on a cold winter night. Merry belated Christmas, see you in 2010! Photo by TRofimOFF

Recorded on January 1st, 2010
Published January 1st, 2010 (3 mb).