Natalya Virtuozova: The National Centre RUSSIA embarks on a journey into the "Book of Fairy Tales"
Preparations for the opening of the "Book of Fairy Tales" exposition — the main New Year's event at the National Centre RUSSIA, are being finalised. The key principle of the exposition is total immersion. The visitors to the Centre will take on the role of the main characters themselves, encountering figures from various folklore traditions and legends, and overcoming various trials. The culmination of the event will be the opportunity to inscribe one's wish into the Magic Book. This was announced to the media by Natalya Virtuozova, Director General of the National Centre RUSSIA.
"A fairy tale is not just a beautiful story. It is a small child's introduction to the fact that in real life, there is always a choice between good and evil, loyalty and betrayal, action and idleness. And the future depends on the choice you make. That's why we wanted to create a very profound and interesting fairy-tale journey," said Natalya Virtuozova.
The "journey" begins in the library — the treasury of the Firebird, where fairy tales from all over the world can be found. It features museum and artisan objects, antique books, magazines, and fairy-tale illustrations — publications that have shaped the imaginative world of Russian fairy tales and folk culture for centuries. The journey continues into a winter fairy-tale "forest" of Russian regions, where every page comes to life as a story about land, people, and traditions.
Guests will enjoy live communication with fairy-tale worlds through interactive expositions. Visitors will be able to speak with "brought-to-life" characters like The Little Humpbacked Horse, Finist the Bright Falcon, Baba Yaga, and The Frog Princess; help Snegurochka (the Snow Maiden) come to the New Year's tree performance on time; and show wisdom while talking with a digital Rusalka (Mermaid) sitting in the branches of an ancient oak to avoid falling under her spell. The culmination of the fairy-tale atmosphere will be the chance to inscribe one's wish into the Magic Book.
"The world knows a serious academic study of the fairy tale, the work of our renowned philologist Vladimir Propp. It states that a fairy tale always has a very strict structure. It always starts from a certain chaos and, following strict rules, moves towards order. In a fairy tale, one must pass trials, and meet bad and good characters. At some moments, the guests of our event will help fairy-tale characters, and sometimes they will test themselves. But at the end of the fairy tale, there will be a happy ending for those who pass the trials worthily — a 'feast for the whole world'," continued Natalya Virtuozova.
She also thanked the eight regions that participated in creating the "Book of Fairy Tales" exposition. These are the Ryazan, Kaliningrad, and Vologda regions, the Republics of Komi, Karelia and Mordovia, the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area, and Stavropol region. There, she said, different stories from local epics and characters which are far from universally known, will be presented.
Natalya Virtuozova noted that companies from across the whole country were involved in building the exposition, and 300 specialists were engaged: "The exposition has many interactive details, and I can't call it anything other than a fairy-tale journey. We tried our best to gather the best technologies not only from Russia, but also from abroad. The team responsible for the construction visited many countries. Therefore, our visitors, residents of Moscow and guests of the capital, will be able to see the finest technologies developed for our soulful fairy tales."
The "Book of Fairy Tales" exposition will be open to all visitors on 13 December 2025 from 15:00. You can book a tour on the website russia.ru in the "Events" section. Admission to the exposition is free.
Event photobank
Representatives from various fields, interested in fostering an active and responsible civic position, met at the National Centre RUSSIA.
Valery Fedorov's address took place as part of the Znaniye.Heroes programme at the National Centre RUSSIA.
Before talking with the guests, Maria Zakharova congratulated all those in attendance on Heroes of the Fatherland Day.
