Colmar is an elegant French city with intense cultural life. It has close cultural links with Russia. Famous Russian conductor and musician Vladimir Spivakov organizes annual international music festivals in Colmar in early July since 1989. Young musicians and artists, winners of the Spivakov Fund's grants, participate in the festival.
In 1996, Colmar became a twin-city of Togliatti, the center of Russian car industry on the Volga river where Lada and Niva cars are produced. The two cities concluded an agreement on cultural cooperation letting young Togliatti musicians annually perform in Colmar's concert halls.
The Order of Friendship marks citizens' contribution to the promotion of international cooperation and friendship, high achievements in the development of Russia's economic and scientific potential, and productive work aimed at rapprochement and mutual enrichment of national cultures and consolidation of interstate peace and friendship.
