Summer Program of Events for New Holland Island

17 may 2017

Summer Program of Events for New Holland Island

In June 2017, Summer on New Holland will launch its fifth straight edition, marking the first full summer season in the newly renovated spaces of the island. New Holland first opened to a wider public in 2011. Since that time, the island has received more than 1.5 million visitors. In August 2016, the first phase of reconstruction came to completion, with the reshaping of the park area and the debut of revamped historical buildings, the Foundry and the Commandant’s House, as well as a suite of temporary pavilions and other structures.

This year, visitors to the island will be greeted by a sizable program of events, in keeping with past editions in its primary focus on music, film, art, education, sports and activities for children. Over the course of four months, the park will host more than 400 events of various formats and scales, from regular classes and activities, to grand-scale concerts and festivals.

One of the key events for the Summer Program is the inauguration of the kinetic installation, Firebird Descent, created especially for New Holland by the American artists collective, Poetic Kinetics. Occupying over 8,000 m² of space in total, this giant Firebird will waggle its massive tail in the sky over the park, creating movements visible throughout the park and the pontoons set up along the island’s inner waterways. The installation will remain on view from June until the end of September. It will mark the first attempt at creating a work of public art on New Holland at this scale, while serving as the collective’s first ever project in Russia.

This year, the ongoing initiative New Holland: Cultural Urbanization will continue its collaboration with the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art. This summer selected excerpts of the series of musical events, Mosaic Music, now in its second year at Garage, will also tour St. Petersburg. Headlining this year’s program is the British band, London Grammar, who will play the island’s Main Stage on July 20, fresh off of the release of their latest album, Truth is a Beautiful thing. Other events will be announced later.

In addition to the Garage’s festival, visitors to New Holland can look forward to concerts from bands like Pinkshinyultrablast, Motorama, Artemiev and ½ Orchestra, as well as performances by the Moscow Ensemble of Contemporary Music and soloists from the opera of the Bolshoi Theatre.

New Holland Island will continue its tradition of screening films under the open sky. For these events, the Main Stage is equipped with a high-resolution LED screen. Late night screenings can be enjoyed using wireless headphones, to help ensure compliance with the city’s legislation on quiet hours. Among the major film events this summer are offerings from the Center for Documentary Film and New Holland’s long-time partner, Beat Film Festival, which presents a rich selection of documentary films on music, art, urbanism and social issues. Another of the program’s highlights is a marathon of the cult fantasy saga, Star Wars.

As a new feature this year, the Pavilion will host Lecture Hall, offering more than 80 lectures and presentations on architecture, film, literature, and art, organized in collaboration with the Higher School of Economics in St. Petersburg, the magazine Project Baltia, and the initiative Dacha in the City.

The park space will also undergo some changes. First and foremost, visitors will see an increase in the area of the park. In July, construction will start on pedestrian bridges between the inner basin and the pontoons on the water, while selected sections of the Moika Embankment and the area around the Bottle will open to the public. The courtyard of the Bottle will gain a modest stage for concerts from street musicians and other small-scale performances. Other additions to the park include a playground for the island’s very youngest visitors, a life-size chess board, and Battleship. Meanwhile, anchor tenants will continue their activities on the island. The Mayak School of Creative Industries will run a summer camp, while the Kuznya House club and restaurant and Volkonsky DELI will both open summer terraces, with menus tailored to fit the season.