United in love: the National Centre RUSSIA invites couples from across the country to the 3rd All-Russian Wedding Festival

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From 8 to 9 July, the National Centre RUSSIA will host the 3rd All-Russian Wedding Festival "Russia. Uniting Hearts". On the Day of Family, Love and Fidelity, a ceremonial mass wedding will take place, traditionally bringing together couples from across the country. Applications from couples wishing to formalise their unions will be accepted on the website of the National Centre RUSSIA from 21 April.

"Our wedding festival continues the good tradition of the International RUSSIA EXPO. Family is the most important value for all of us, and we hold this event with warmth in our hearts for hundreds of couples from across the country. The 3rd All-Russian Wedding Festival will be even larger in scale: in addition to the National Centre in Moscow, festive wedding ceremonies will also take place at its branches — in the Primorye Territory, the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area — Yugra, and the Ryazan Region. In the Year of the Unity of the Peoples of Russia, announced by our President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, the theme of the festival — "United in Love" — reflects the unity of hearts, culture, traditions and values," said Natalia Virtuozova, Director General of the National Centre RUSSIA.

On the first day of the festival, the main event will be the mass wedding ceremony for couples from across Russia. The celebration of love will also feature the transfer of the flame of the All-Russian Family Hearth "Heart of Russia". Newlyweds will receive from couples married at previous festivals a symbolic flame from Murom, where the holy patrons of marriage, Peter and Fevronia, once lived. On the second day, newlyweds, their guests and all those interested in wedding traditions will be able to attend lectures, workshops, gastronomic shows and guided tours of the expositions "Journey Across Russia" and "Geography Lessons" at the National Centre RUSSIA.

Wedding ceremonies as part of the All-Russian Wedding Festival are conducted by office workers of Moscow registry offices. In 2025, on 8 July, more than 40 Moscow registry office staff members simultaneously registered the marriages of 151 couples, while in 2024, 80 of them took part in the large-scale ceremony.

"The All-Russian Wedding Festival clearly demonstrates how the role of civil registry offices is evolving: we not only register civil status acts, but also take part in an important event in the life of the country. Today, starting a family is not just a legal fact, but a vibrant, unifying celebration that reflects the traditions of the country and sets new guidelines for young couples. Employees of Moscow registry offices become part of this celebration every year and register marriages of couples from across the country," said Svetlana Ukhaneva, Head of the Moscow Civil Registry Office.

Applications for participation in the 3rd All-Russian Wedding Festival will open on 21 April at 00:00 Moscow time. An important requirement for participants will be the inclusion of elements of national costume in their wedding attire. The event will bring together couples from different ethnic backgrounds, showcasing the cultural diversity of the country and the unity of their feelings.

The 1st All-Russian Wedding Festival was held in 2024 as part of the International RUSSIA EXPO, where 221 couples were married. In 2025, the event took place at the National Centre RUSSIA, resulting in 206 new families. The festival has now become an annual event and will be held on the feast day of Saints Peter and Fevronia.