The parable "Khorovod. Wedding" concludes the All-Russian Wedding Festival "Russia. Uniting Hearts"

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The musical and choreographic parable "Khorovod. Wedding" became the culmination of the III All-Russian Wedding Festival "Russia. Uniting Hearts", held at the National Centre RUSSIA. The second day's programme concluded with a large khorovod featuring creative ensembles and newlyweds, as well as the passing on of the flame of the All-Russian Family Hearth "Heart of Russia" to families taking part in the festival.

The Khorovod brought together seven newlywed couples from Moscow, the Kaluga and Vladimir Regions, Tatarstan, Chuvashia, the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area and the Altai Territory, as well as more than 300 performers. They included the Gzhel Moscow State Academic Dance Theatre, the Koshkin Dom Event Ballet, the Honoured State Academic Donbass Song and Dance Ensemble, the S. A. Zverev — Kyyl Uola National Dance Theatre of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the Steppe Melodies State Song and Dance Ensemble from the Irkutsk Region, the Alan State Academic Dance Ensemble from the Republic of North Ossetia — Alania, the Domisolka Children's Musical Theatre, the Globalis Symphony Orchestra, the Paraskeva Ensemble and the Vertograd Folk Instrument Orchestra. Ensembles from different regions presented the wedding traditions and rituals of the peoples of Russia on one stage, bringing them together in a single dramatic narrative.

"The musical and choreographic parable is called not simply 'Khorovod', but 'Khorovod. Wedding' because it was created especially for the All-Russian Wedding Festival. It is a true journey through the wedding traditions of the peoples of Russia. We show how different they are, but at the same time how united we are in our values. Every people has its own way of speaking about love, family, blessing and the continuation of the family line, but there is something shared at the heart of them all. I think this is what makes the production unique: in a single evening, audiences can see the diversity of our country in its unity," said Chulpan Piotrovskaya, Chief Director and Creative Producer of the musical and choreographic parable "Khorovod".

The parable is based on the idea that love, family and continuity between generations remain key values for Russia. Through musical and choreographic episodes, audiences were shown how family traditions, respect for one another and mutual support build trust in society and strengthen the unity of the country's peoples.

The script was structured as a sequence of episodes, from a prologue about love and family to sections devoted to folk dances, wedding rituals and the passing on of family traditions. Audiences were shown Ossetian, Buryat, Yakut and other national wedding customs that emphasise respect for elders, continuity between generations and a responsible approach to starting a family.

"It is a great honour for us to represent Tatar culture in the shared khorovod. We are presenting the traditional wedding ritual of welcoming the bride, in which chak-chak plays an important role as a symbol of hospitality and family well-being. It is wonderful that at the festival every couple can tell others about the traditions of their people, while together we create a single picture of our country's cultural diversity," said Insav and Guzel Khidiyatullin.

One of the most emotional episodes was the "Mother's Blessing" performance, dedicated to the relationship between mother and daughter and the passing on of family experience. Its meaning was conveyed without additional commentary, through the performers' movements, facial expressions and musical accompaniment.

The final part of the parable was dedicated to the wedding wreath and bouquet, linking the daytime marriage ceremony with the evening stage programme. The performance concluded with the large "Wedding Celebration" dance, featuring all the creative ensembles and the festival's newlyweds.

"This is our first experience of taking part in an event on such a scale. The festival brought together families from across the country, and it made an incredible impression on us. It was moving to see how many happy people had gathered in one place. I would like everyone to experience emotions like these at least once. In the Khorovod, we presented our national dance, the lezginka. For me, it is not just a dance: I have practised it since childhood and performed in an ensemble for 15 years. It is part of my culture, part of my character, something that is in my blood. It is very important for us to preserve these traditions and tell others about them," said Gadzhi Ibragimov, a participant in the parable "Khorovod. Wedding", who performed together with his wife Milana. The couple from Daghestan became popular online thanks to the husband's dance at their wedding.

At the end of the evening, the newlyweds received the flame of the All-Russian Family Hearth "Heart of Russia". The tradition began in 2024 at the International RUSSIA EXPO, when, during the Year of the Family, a flame brought from Murom, the city of Saints Peter and Fevronia, was lit. Since then, the hearth has become a shared symbol of family warmth and fidelity and has travelled across the country's regions. At the National Centre RUSSIA, families who married at the EXPO and at the National Centre RUSSIA passed on part of this flame to the newlyweds of the 2026 festival.

"When we took part in the first Wedding Festival ourselves, we could never have imagined that, some time later, we would be passing the flame on to new families. It is a very beautiful tradition. You realise that you are becoming part of something bigger and can show newlyweds where family life begins. I think traditions like this are especially important in Russia: respect for the family has always been passed down from generation to generation here. And today, when so many couples come together, it reminds us how many people are ready to love, start families and go through life hand in hand," shared the Yezhov family, participants in the first All-Russian Wedding Festival.

Before the evening programme began, guests could visit the interactive exposition "Three Houses of a Russian Wedding", prepared by the National Centre RUSSIA jointly with the Istok House of Culture. The exposition introduced visitors to the distinctive features of wedding celebrations in peasant, merchant and noble families and presented household items, costume elements and ritual practices through which ideas about the family were passed down from generation to generation.

The III All-Russian Wedding Festival "Russia. Uniting Hearts" was held on 8–9 July. Its programme was dedicated to the family as one of the key values of Russian society and included a ceremonial procession of newlyweds, a simultaneous marriage registration ceremony for 150 couples, cultural, educational and culinary events, expositions, meetings with families who took part in previous festivals, as well as the final evening featuring the parable "Khorovod. Wedding" and the ceremony of passing on the flame of the Family Hearth.