Southern Urals in the heart of the capital: themed week of the Chelyabinsk region at the National Centre RUSSIA

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From 7 to 12 October, the National Centre RUSSIA will host the themed week of the Chelyabinsk region as part of the exposition "Region-2030. Platform of the Future". Each day will be devoted to a specific theme. Guests will discover the history, traditions, achievements, culture, and development plans of the region — and will even be able to taste the Southern Urals.

7 October. Tank City (Tankograd) Heroes’ Day

The programme of events prepared by the region opens with Tank City Heroes’ Day. This official remembrance day in the Chelyabinsk region is marked annually on 6 October. "Tankograd" or "Tank City" was the wartime name of Chelyabinsk during the Great Patriotic War. Every fifth tank that went to the front was produced in the city.

Tank City Heroes’ Day honours all residents of the Southern Urals who worked on the home front. The entire Chelyabinsk region contributed to the needs of the front. Four cities in the region bear the honorary title of "City of Labour Valour": Chelyabinsk, Magnitogorsk, Zlatoust, and Miass.

At the regional stand on this day there will be two workshops:

11:00–13:00 — Workshop on creating a 3D-modelled postcard on a military theme.

14:00–16:00 — Workshop on painting a badge in the shape of a T-34 tank.

In addition, the region’s Telegram channel will host a quiz with prizes dedicated to Tank City Heroes’ Day, while the phygital graffiti zone will let visitors colour a mural on a military theme. 

8 October. "From Craft to Art"

This day will be devoted to the folk arts and crafts of the Chelyabinsk region. The region is famous for its unique crafts closely tied to metal. These include Zlatoust engraving on steel and Kasli cast iron, which have become trademarks of the Southern Urals.

In Zlatoust, engravings adorn cold steel (tourist, hunting and ceremonial), interior items, tableware and wall panels. In Kasli, cast-iron items are produced: ornate lace benches, railings and staircases, statuettes and interior pieces.

Throughout the day, the stand will feature a presentation of the costume collection "Ural Master Craftsman" by the Theatre of Russian Costume, as well as a themed quiz with prizes. Master craftswoman Alexandra Kaptel will hold the following workshops:

12:00–13:00 — Demonstration workshop "Bobbin Lace Weaving".

13:30–14:30 — Workshop on block printing on fabric.

15:00–16:00 — Demonstration workshop "Bobbin Lace Weaving".

16:30–17:30 — Workshop on making a keychain with a birch-bark bead.

9 October. "Legends and Tales"

This day will be dedicated to the history of the Chelyabinsk region — ancient Arkaim, the Bashkir tribes who left behind many beautiful legends about mountains, rivers and lakes, as well as the natural beauty and tourist appeal of the region. Master craftswoman Alexandra Kaptel will hold two workshops:

12:00–14:00 — Workshop on painting wood slices with traditional patterns.

15:00–17:00 — Workshop on creating a brooch with Ural gemstones.

In addition, throughout the day the stand will host a presentation of the costume collection "Ural Master Craftsman" by the Theatre of Russian Costume, as well as a themed quiz with prizes. 

10 October, Chelyabinsk Region Day

10:00–11:00 — Meeting of the Governor of the Chelyabinsk Region, Alexei Teksler, with first-year students and undergraduates studying at Moscow universities.

In an informal setting, the participants will discuss prospects for young professionals returning to the Chelyabinsk region after receiving higher education in Moscow, career opportunities and support measures for youth.

10:30–11:00 — Concert by the male quartet "Onegin". The Onegin quartet are true professionals of the opera stage, soloists of the Chelyabinsk Opera and Ballet Theatre. Their performance will include the songs "Rus’ of Mine", "Altitude", "Eternal Love" and others. The concert will take place in the regional presentation zone.

12:00–13:00 — Meeting with the Governor of the Chelyabinsk Region, Alexei Teksler. The head of the region will present landmark infrastructure, social and business projects that are set to transform the lives of the people of the Southern Urals.

For instance, the Chelyabinsk region has found an unconventional solution to the unfinished metro project — the existing tunnels and stations will become part of a new transport system for the city: the metrotram.

Landfills in five cities of the region have been reclaimed, and flowers grown in greenhouses on former waste sites now decorate flowerbeds and lawns. Large-scale construction is underway: a world-class interuniversity campus, two sports arenas and a surgical building for the regional children’s hospital are being built. Despite its industrial image, the Chelyabinsk region is also actively developing industries of the future: space and industrial robotics, IT and the creative industries.

The meeting will bring together deputies of the State Duma and Federation Council, representatives of major businesses and regional universities, and public figures. The moderator will be Sergei Malozemov, television presenter, author of the NTV programmes "The Miracle of Technology" and "Living Food", and a native of the Chelyabinsk region.

13:30–15:30 — Gastronomic show "Camel Dishes". The menu will feature Southern Ural street food: shangi with various fillings, ozerniki (rye-dough pies) with creamy caviar stuffing and pike-perch, apple vzvar and other culinary masterpieces from Yevgeny Mikhailov, brand chef of the "Ryabinin Estate" restaurant.

Cooking classes with tastings will then be held by Konstantin Lyashkov, brand chef of "Y bistro", and Alexei Belkin, chef and specialist in Ural Cossack cuisine. They will explain how "Demidov-style tongue" is cooked in a Russian oven with a marinade of wild ranetka apples. The dish is served between two "rvantsy" — potato and turnip pancakes — with a lingonberry, honey and garlic sauce called "makalo".

The gastronomic show will be accompanied by a performance from folk DJ Vlad Ethnic.

14:00–16:30 — Forum of the All-Russian Movement "Engineering Personnel of Russia". The event will precede the launch of the XII season of the All-Russian career guidance technology contest "Engineering Personnel of Russia" ("IKaR") and will bring together trainers, participants, judges, representatives of resource centres and everyone interested in the development of the engineering movement in Russia.

14:30–15:00 — Official launch of registration for the 10th Paris Half Marathon. The ceremony will be attended by the Governor of the Chelyabinsk Region, Alexei Teksler, Olympic champion Yury Borzakovsky, founder of the athletics competition Svetlana Mamedalina, and triathlete and Managing Partner of Newman Sport & Business Consulting, Vladimir Voloshin.

The Paris Half Marathon is held annually in the village of Paris in the Nagaybaksky district of the Chelyabinsk region. First held in 2016, it gathered 240 runners. Over nine years, the half marathon has grown into not only an athletics race but also a true sports festival — with a rich cultural and entertainment programme and a unique atmosphere.

In 2025, under the arches of a scaled-down replica of the Eiffel Tower, more than 11,000 professional and amateur athletes from 33 regions of Russia, as well as from Kazakhstan, Belarus and China, took part. They competed in distances of the "Paris Mile", 5, 10 and 21 km, in cycling races, Nordic walking, and a night run. 

11 October. Fusion of Science and Technology. Atom Day

The Chelyabinsk region is one of the key regions in building Russia’s nuclear shield and developing peaceful atom programmes. Igor Vasilyevich Kurchatov, the scientific director of the Soviet nuclear project and a great nuclear physicist, was a native of the Chelyabinsk region. In the 1940s, he returned to his homeland to oversee the construction of a plutonium production plant — the Mayak Chemical Plant. The Chelyabinsk region is home to 3 of Rosatom’s 10 closed cities: Ozersk, Snezhinsk and Trekhgorny.

Throughout the day, visitors to the Chelyabinsk region’s stand will be able to play board games on atomic themes — "Chepukhatom", "Chronometer", "Atomic Memo" — as well as solve atomic puzzles and receive commemorative prizes.

14:00–16:00 — Gastronomic show "Camel Dishes". Chef Yevgeny Mikhailov will prepare another variation of shangi — this time with chicken filling and Ural-style sauerkraut sauce. Guests will also try lamb stewed in kvass with baked cabbage cream, the dessert "Babka" with baked milk mousse, apple vzvar with cherries, and Lapochka lemonade produced in the Chelyabinsk region. The gastronomic show will be accompanied by a quiz with prizes, as well as folk songs performed on the bayan and balalaika by the duo "Rich and Famous".

The Regional Days are held as part of the exposition "Region-2030. Platform of the Future" at the National Centre RUSSIA from September to October. Visitors have already become acquainted with the Republic of Dagestan, the Voronezh, Tula and Amur regions, as well as the Jewish Autonomous Region. From 7 to 12 October, guests will learn more about the Chelyabinsk region, and the series of regional programmes will conclude with the Nenets Autonomous Area from 14 to 19 October.