Travel-loving couples to marry at the III All-Russian Wedding Festival

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Travelling is a wonderful way to strengthen love and discover something new about one another. This is demonstrated by the couples who will marry at the III All-Russian Wedding Festival "Russia. Uniting Hearts" on 8 July at the National Centre RUSSIA. Quiet historic estates and bustling cities, majestic mountains and warm seas — every corner of the country inspires romance and helps people feel part of a vast and diverse nation.

For Andrei Privalov and Arina Potkalo from the Perm Territory, the geography of Russia holds special significance. Fate brought them together not in their home region, but on the Black Sea coast, where they had travelled to work at a children's camp as members of the Russian Student Brigades. Sharing both the challenges and joys of camp life, Andrei and Arina soon realised they had found in each other not merely support, but something much greater. The couple recall that they began their relationship in the south part of the country, the marriage proposal took place in the heart of the Ural region, and so the decision to marry in the capital came naturally.

Ilya Kolosov and Diana Ziborova are from the Tver Region, but the most important place on their map became St Petersburg. When they joined a group trip to Russia's northern capital, neither imagined a shared future. However, it was the journey that revealed their best qualities to one another. Just an hour before their train home was due to depart, they were splashed with mud by an off-road vehicle. Diana laughed, while Ilya immediately suggested booking a room so they could clean up before travelling. At that moment, they realised they could overcome any unexpected challenge together.

Moscow residents Vladislav Zheludkov and Yelena Ivanova found each other during a "Watermelon Rafting" trip along the Kirzhach River. The cheerful paddleboarding event had been organised by their SUP-boarder friends to celebrate the end of summer and enjoy plenty of watermelon. Cool splashes, picturesque scenery, endless laughter and sporting excitement created the perfect atmosphere for romance to blossom. By autumn, Vladislav and Yelena had begun dating, and soon they will embark together on the shared voyage of family life.

Muscovites Pavel Zhukov and Natalia Gladysheva also belong to this "club of travelling sweethearts". Every year they set off on new journeys — to Tver, Vologda, Yasnaya Polyana and the seaside. They say that time spent together feels especially meaningful when experienced in new places.

Travelling around their native region brought together another couple, Irina Porozova and Boris Rakhmanov from Kamchatka. The bride-to-be is passionate about painting, classical music and theatre. Thanks to Boris, she discovered new dimensions of beauty. Together they fished on quiet rivers, gathered wild berries and explored remarkable corners of the peninsula, where nature remains breathtakingly untouched.

Love knows no borders. In every region, people dream of building families, supporting one another and working towards shared goals. In this sense, the All-Russian Wedding Festival symbolises the unity of the country's peoples and their commitment to traditional family values.

Visitors seeking inspiration for future journeys can find it at the expositions of the National Centre RUSSIA. The permanent exposition "Journey Across Russia" offers a virtual tour of the country's federal districts through modern technologies, including 3D models and panoramic displays. Interactive maps, exhibits and educational modules immerse visitors in stories of the routes which explorers, navigators and pioneers travelled along, as well as the creation of the first trade routes, postal roads and railways. The exposition " Geography Lessons" explores the history of cartography and the development of Russia's territories.

The III All-Russian Wedding Festival "Russia. Uniting Hearts" will take place on 8–9 July at the National Centre RUSSIA. The event will bring together more than 100 couples representing dozens of Russian regions. On 8 July they will become the central participants in a grand wedding ceremony, while on 9 July they will take part in a themed educational programme that will also be open to all visitors.

The festival will conclude with a grand musical and choreographic parable, named "Khorovod. Wedding", bringing together newlyweds, their guests and other participants. This traditional circle dance, in which no one takes centre stage and every participant matters, can be regarded as a cultural symbol of Russia. It will serve as a powerful expression of unity, mutual understanding and support, because a khorovod can only be formed when people join hands with one another.

This year, the festival is expanding its geographical reach. Alongside Moscow, celebratory wedding ceremonies will also take place at branches of the National Centre RUSSIA in the Primorye Territory and the Krasnoyarsk Territory, as well as in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area — Yugra.

The III All-Russian Wedding Festival is organised by the National Centre RUSSIA in partnership with the Moscow Government and the Moscow Civil Registry Office. In the Year of the Unity of the Peoples of Russia, declared by President Vladimir Putin, the festival's central theme is "United in Love" — celebrating the unity of hearts, cultures, traditions and values.