The Baltika: Waves of Taste Festival will combine gastronomy, music and art

The main gastronomic event of this summer will soon bring together guests at the Igor Drive autodrome near St. Petersburg, where the Baltika: Waves of Taste festival will be held on August 22 and 23. Popular artists and famous chefs will participate in it. Natalia Oskerko, a correspondent of Izvestia, found out what visitors will be surprised by.

A gastronomic show from renowned chefs, the aromas of freshly cooked meat, fresh air, foamy drinks, live music — a feast of taste from the Baltika brewing company, which thundered throughout the Northwest, will be repeated again. This time it will be twice as long and bigger.

"What could be better during our short northern summer than to enjoy it outdoors, at a beautiful sports facility, surrounded by famous artists and great chefs who share their culinary skills?" said Konstantin Tamirov, Marketing Director of the Baltika Brewing Company.

Once upon a time, it was Baltika that stood at the origins of the festival movement in Russia. The first beer festivals in the very center of St. Petersburg — with an orchestra, stars, and ballet dancers — gathered hundreds of thousands of spectators in the late 1990s. The tradition has been interrupted: Baltika went through a difficult period of stagnation under foreign management, but now it has been revived and has become an example of Russian self-sufficiency for the entire industry: eight factories in different regions of the country, two malt houses, its own agricultural program, including the development of hop production.

"Hops, malt, water, yeast are all ingredients. No chemical additives or flavor enhancers. The main magic begins in the cauldrons — the foamy drink is brewed for about six hours, and then ferments for an average of 12 days," the correspondent said.

The quality of the product is monitored from the field to the glass, that is, from the moment of sowing the cereals.

"In total, the inspection takes place using more than 100 different methods and parameters. So that when a person opens a bottle, a can, or drinks our beer in a bar, the quality is the same as if they were doing it at our factory," said Maria Egupova, head of the production laboratory at the Baltika Brewery in St. Petersburg.

The monitoring does not end there. The quality of each batch is monitored throughout the shelf life. And this is a huge amount!

"Productivity ranges from 10 to 60 thousand units per hour. The can line produces about 15 cans per second," said Egor Ivanov, the leader of the bottling plant at the Baltika Brewery in St. Petersburg.

The country has a new summer tradition. The concept of the gastronomic festival has become even closer to the generous and multifaceted Russian soul: now it is "Baltika: Waves of Taste". Several trends will merge into one sea of impressions: music, art, sports and, of course, gastronomy.

"We will have a large six-meter barbecue, a carousel where six large lambs are cooked at the same time, we will bring our smoker on a wheelbase that holds almost 400 kg of meat, and, of course, we will cook all this right on the site and treat our guests," shared the brand chef of the gastronomic area of the festival.Baltika: Waves of Taste" by Alexey Kanevsky.

Billy's Band, Zhenya Lyubich, GAYAZOV$BROTHER$, the CAGMO Symphony Orchestra with the program "Chorus of Russian Rock" and Bearwolf will perform on the main stage.

As part of the art wave, a full-fledged fashion festival with fashion shows and master classes by top stylists will be launched for the first time, and a carnival race, bike rides and even a balloon launch will be organized at the Baltika sports grounds. All this is done within two days. The new format of an unforgettable family vacation will take place on August 22 and 23 at the motorhome "Igor Drive" near St. Petersburg.

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In mid-September 2025, the Baltika Fest gastrofestival took place in the Leningrad Region at the Igor Drive autodrome. It has become a significant event for the entire northwest of the country. People from all over Russia were able to taste the new flavors of the country. Stars such as Disco Accident, singer Marie Crymbreri and the cult group Chaif performed in front of the festival guests.