The XI International Festival "Cossack Village Moscow" was held in Moscow.

On September 13, as part of the celebration of the City Day, the XI International Festival "Cossack Village Moscow" was held at the Kolomenskoye Museum-Reserve. The event dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory and the Year of Defender of the Fatherland gathered more than 90,000 spectators and more than 1,000 participants from 40 regions of Russia and the Republic of Belarus. The broadcast of the festival was watched by more than 300 thousand people.

The opening ceremony on the main stage was held by: Vitaly Suchkov, Head of the Department of National Policy and Interregional Relations of the City of Moscow; Alexey Kirichenko, Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration for Civil Service, Personnel and Anti-Corruption; Executive Secretary of the Council of the President of the Russian Federation for Cossacks; Sergey Kirichenko, Deputy Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Central Federal District Neshtenko, ataman of the All-Russian Cossack Society, Cossack General Vitaly Kuznetsov; Chairman of the Synodal Committee of the Russian Orthodox Church for Cooperation with the Cossacks, Chairman of the Synodal Department for Cooperation with the Armed Forces and Law Enforcement Agencies Metropolitan Kirill of Stavropol and Nevinnomyssky; deputy of the Moscow City Duma Alexander Likhanov.

The musical program started with performances by the contestants of the festival. More than 45 creative groups and performers from Central Russia, Stavropol, the Don, Siberia and even the Far East competed in the Vocal and Cossack Dance categories.

The gala part began with the performance of the Anthems of Russia and Moscow in the powerful sound of the Virtuosi brass band. A special surprise awaited the guests – the presentation of the anthem of the Moskovskaya Stanitsa Festival performed by Rodion Gazmanov and the State Academic Song and Dance Ensemble of the Don Cossacks named after A. Kvasov.

The central spiritual event of the day was a prayer service at the Marching Temple, followed by its consecration and broadcast on the screens of the Main Stage. The consecration, conducted by Metropolitan Kirill of Stavropol and Nevinnomyssk, was attended by participants and guests of the festival. After the festival, the Marching Temple with the iconostasis was handed over to the Synodal Committee of the Russian Orthodox Church to be sent to the special military operation zone. An iconostasis and a bell made by the Central Cossack Army military Society were also consecrated. After the consecration, the bell will be transferred to a restored church in the Luhansk People's Republic, and the iconostasis will be used for the spiritual needs of participants in a special military operation.

Other themed venues did not leave the guests indifferent either. The "Folk Festivals" venue delighted the audience with the performances of the contestants all day, and ended with the award ceremony for the best in the nominations "Flanking as art", "Decorative and Applied creativity" and "Cossack traditional holidays and rituals".

Traditionally, one of the most spectacular venues was "Dzhigitovka", where the "Gold of the Don" team from the M.A. Sholokhov Museum-Reserve held four exciting events.

Two large–scale tournaments were held for connoisseurs of military art: the Interregional draughts flanking tournament "Capital Cup - 2025" and the All-Russian team draughts team competition "Vatazhnaya Batalitsa", where participants of all ages demonstrated their skills.

For the first time, the All-Russian Cossack Society debuted with its own rich program. On its site, in the tents "To the Cossack family, there is no translation" and "A Cossack in battle, like an eagle in the sky", guests could take part in interactive lectures, intellectual games and tournaments and view exhibitions. Numerous workshops on embroidery of towels, doll making, painting and weaving of folk crafts and the quest "Cossacks are eagles of the steppe and their business is dashing" were held around the tents. The program ended with patriotic and Cossack songs around a campfire.

At the Kazachye Podvorye site, festival guests could learn more about the peculiarities of the Cossacks' way of life by visiting the kurens of various Cossack societies. The visitors inspected the interior, household items, and communicated with representatives of the Cossack clans.

For the children's audience, there was an interactive playground "Cossack fun", where instructors taught the rules of traditional games: "Twitch", "Throwers", "Chock at the tree".

The festival ended with a big award ceremony for the winners of the competition program.