Festivals Climate July and August are the warmest months and the main holiday season. They're also the dampest - it might rain one day in three. In early autumn the leaves are turning and you can pick mushrooms and berries. Although winter is bitter, theatres open, the vodka comes out, buildings are warm and the snow is beautiful.
Spring is slushy, muddy and generally horrible.
Festivals Easter and Christmas are celebrated with midnight services, candlelight processions and flourishings of folk art. In April St Petersburg celebrates Music Spring , an international classical music festival, and the last 10 days of June feature the White Nights , a time for general merrymaking and staying up late. A film festival is held in Moscow in autumn in odd-numbered years. The Russian Winter Festival is celebrated in St Petersburg, Moscow and Novgorod from late December to early January, and includes folklore shows and vodka. The other main winter celebration is New Year, celebrated with presents, champagne and yet more vodka.