Military Music Festival Kicks Off With Gurkha Pipes, Japanese Dance

Besides guests from Japan and Mongolia, Asian countries are also represented by Singapore with its women police band – a rare chance to see law enforcement agents playing Asian tunes on Gurkha pipes and drums. Hundreds of men and women in military and police uniforms parade through the main alley of Mosocow’s VDNKh exhibition centre, accompanied by folk dancers and singers.

These performers come from all over the world — Kazakhstan and Belarus, Greece, Italy, Slovenia, Mongolia, Japan and Singapore. For many of them “Spasskaya Tower” festival is a rare chance to travel to Russia.

Frank Janssen is the leading drummer in the band called Celtic Massed Pipes and Drums.  He says band members, among them musicians from Britain, Scotland, The Netherlands, Denmark and Germany, have attended the festival before, but it’s always nice to get a taste of Moscow.

“People are nice, the food is good, the tattoo is brilliant!”

Members of the Russian Presidential Cavalry Regument together with jockeys from the Kremlin riding school performed stunts in the middle of the Red Square on the second day of the festival. Some of them are elements of Cosack tradition. All of them require months of training and highest degree of concentration, since real swords are being used, and stunts are performed at high speed.

A small group of Japanese dancers wearing traditional folk costumes came to Moscow from Japan’s Tokushima prefecture. They are here to demonstrate Awaodori dance. Each year more than 1.3 million people attend festivities in the streets of prefecture’s capital, and Awaodori is the 400-year-old tradition that unites them.

Besides guests from Japan and Mongolia, Asian countries are also represented by Singapore with its women police band – a rare chance to see law enforcement agents playing Asian tunes on Gurkha pipes and drums.

Moscow’s VDNKh (“Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy”), the permanent trade show and amusement park where “Spasskaya  Tower” participants gave their first performance today, was originally built in 1935 to demonstrate the unity of Soviet Union’s 15 socialist republics. It’s a popular weekend destination for Muscovites, domestic and foreign visitors.

The parade of the bands at the trade show is a preview of the main event that will be held in Red Square.

The festival, formerly known as Kremlin Military Tattoo is an annual music fiesta staged in front of the historic fortified complex in the heart of Moscow. More than 140 groups – 1500 musicians and performers from 40 countries have taken part in “Spassskaya tower” since its launch.