The press service of the Irkutsk region government has announced that the International Winter Games Festival "Zimniada" will kick off on February 1st on Lake Baikal. The festival will run until the end of March, featuring a variety of competitions, including ice skating races, ski races, and mountaineering climbs.
The "Zimniada" will open with the "Svirskaya Races" speed skating competition, which will take place at the Innokenty Protasov Stadium "Trud" on February 1-2. Participants will compete in various distances and can also join a swimwear race or dance at a night disco. Another skating competition is scheduled for the spring: the "Open Baikal International Marathon" will take place on March 1-2 in the Bazarnaya Bay, with participants skating across the ice of Lake Baikal from the settlement of Tanhoy to Listvyanka.
From February 2 to 7, the Baikal Extreme Race "Ice Storm" will be held. Competitors will traverse a 205-kilometer course across Lake Baikal’s ice on bicycles, skis, or skates. The route will run along the western shore, from the village of Sakhyurta to Listvyanka. Another race, the "Baikal Race – 2025", will take place from February 22 to 24, where participants will race on dog sleds along the Angara River, with the competition concluding at the Sharyzhalgai station in the Pribaikal National Park.
One of the highlights at the beginning of March will be the Maslenitsa festival at the architectural and ethnographic museum "Taltsy". Guests will enjoy folk games, contests, pancake eating, tug-of-war, circle dances, and performances by folk groups. On International Women's Day, March 8, team competitions in mountaineering, called "Baikalism", will be held in the village of Arshan and on Lake Baikal. Only holders of the "Alpinist of Russia" badge or those with a climbing sports rank will be able to participate.
From March 14 to 16, the winter festival of Nordic walking in Irkutsk region, "Olkhon Nordic", will be held in Bazarka Bay. Both individual and team competitions will take place over various distances. The program will also include sports, business, creative, entertainment, and excursion events.
As part of "Zimniada", there will be an ice crossing event called "Angara Beads" and the traditional winter wizard festival "Ice Fairytale of Baikal" in Slyudyanka, where Santa Clauses from various regions of Russia will gather. The festival will conclude with a special anniversary ice golf tournament on Lake Baikal – THE OPEN BAIKAL GRAND PRIZE ICE GOLF. The competition is scheduled for March 22-23.
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