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St Petersburg New Years Eve 2024

Guide to new years eve in St Petersburg, Russia. Top fireworks, parties, hotels & restauarants for NYE 2023-2024.

Update: I imagine it goes without saying that things in the world are in turmoil. So nothing announced for new year. Below is a guide from previous years.

Should you be in Russia's second largest city this December for New Year, then pack your thermals and get out and explore this wonderful place. It is packed with museums, galleries, theatres, palaces and has a plethora of festivals and cultural events that show St Peterbsurg's diverse heritage.

St Petersburg, not to be confused with it's namesake in Florida, is home to the Hermitage Museum so for the art lover, this is one place you will not want to miss, it's one of the world's largest and oldest museums and is a stunning venue. For me personally, I think the Faberge Museum would also have to make the list of must see museums as well as the Russian museum in the Mikhailovsky Palace.

There's really no end to what the city can offer art and music lovers, venture to the beautiful Mariinsky Theatre for some wonderful ballet and opera to indulge your cultural side, you can't miss the famous “Nutcracker” while you are there!

Wander the main street of Nevsky Prospekt and stop by one of the cafes or restaurants whilst you take in the sights including Church on Spilled Blood or go and explore St Isaac's Cathedral for some fantastic views.

December is a wonderful time to visit, as long as you don't mind the cold of course, but you can soon warm up with a glass of Glintwein or two while perusing the Christmas market on Pionerskaya Square (which will hopefully be on this year), with traditional fare, food and drink and you can get your skates on for the temporary ice rink. (One thing to note, the Russians actually celebrate Orthodox Christmas on 7th January, so you could have yourself a double Christmas!)

New Years Eve Celebrations

Please use the following as a guide, with the ongoing conflict, it is very hard to predict how the New Year will pan out. The New Year in Russia has long been considered a family, cozy, and chamber holiday. Many Russians today celebrate it at home. However, Petersburg is a European city, and therefore the New Year celebrations traditionally spill onto its streets, flood them with fireworks lights. Where in the northern capital can be brighter, more interesting, more fun to meet in 2024?

Of course, on the Palace Square! (This is cancelled for this year) Here the holidays normally begin in advance. Since December 26, every day at seven o'clock in the main square of the city the lights of a light show come on for you. And on the night of January 1, a festive concert is held near the elegant Christmas tree. It will begin at 22.00, and the best song, dance and circus groups will take part in it. At midnight in the heart of the city salute will thunder, then the festivities will continue and capture all the surrounding streets.

In the Haymarket Square residents and guests of the city are waiting for theatrical performances and competitions. Immediately at the fair you can buy gifts and souvenirs, but the treat (sweets, bagels, gingerbread and hot tea) will be offered to you for free.

New Year is usually celebrated with fireworks and concerts at the Spit of Vasilyevsky Island, Malaya Konyushennaya Street, Troitsky and Palace Bridges. You can even visit several sites in one night - because the metro runs without interruption.

The State Hermitage Museum, like all other museums, will of course be closed at night. However, for those who really want to celebrate the New Year in the Hermitage, this possibility is also provided. To spend a festive night in an atmosphere of brilliance and luxury, which the Russian Imperial Court was famous for at one time, is invited by the Official Hotel of the Museum. The festive evening with the talking title "Imperial Fun" promises a lot of unforgettable impressions - a musical and theatrical show, original numbers, performances by the best creative teams of St. Petersburg and an exclusive menu that includes the favorite dishes of Russian emperors.

The holiday will not end with the onset of morning. In the first days of the new year, St. Petersburg is ready to please all of us with a variety of amusements. For example, the New Year market on Pioneer Square has remained one of the largest in the city for several years. It is all the more interesting to visit there, as there is an open-air rink, where you can rent skates.

The State Hermitage Museum is unavailable on January 1, but the next day, visitors will be able to go there and get a lot of pleasure from exploring the unusual, slightly magical, good-quality New Year's exhibition "Do not trust your eyes. Deception in art. Museum guests have to go through the labyrinth, built by the designers of the exposition, and expose objects pretending not to be what they are - still lifes that create the illusion of volume, wooden carvings that appear golden, porcelain fruits indistinguishable from real ones, books that, in fact, are caskets for precious little things and more.

There is another option - to get a special ticket for two exhibitions (there are no benefits for it, but it allows you to enter the museum in the evening when there are much less visitors). This ticket provides an opportunity not only to rejoice at the ingenious illusions of deception, but also to enjoy the amazingly beautiful works of Piero della Francesca (Italian painter of the Early Renaissance, one of the discoverers of the laws of perspective).

As you know, Russians love long holidays. What can St. Petersburgers do these days? To visit the skating rink (there are many of them in St. Petersburg, both open and closed), go skiing in the park (they can be rented). Or go to the Museum of the Old New Year, the Peter and Paul Fortress, the Russian Museum (where the exhibitions "Karl Marx Forever" and "Unexpected Malevich" are now open).

Information for this page kindly provided by The Official Hotel of the State Hermitage Museum

New Years Eve Hotels

Stay in one of St Petersburg's beautiful hotels, book your room in advance as the city gets very busy at this time of year.

It's also worth looking uot for any of the hotels that are holding their own new years eve events, as there are some spectacular parties to be had in some of the more upscale establishments, and you can often save by combining your accommodation with your new year dining and entertainment selections.

Top recommended hotels in St Petersburg this new year are:

Pushka Inn Hotel
The State Hermitage Museum Official Hotel
Astoria Hotel
Domina Prestige St.Petersburg
Belmond Grand Hotel Europe

You can search for deals at all of these venues, plus all of the best St Petersburg new years eve hotels here.

NYE Restaurants

There are hundreds of wonderful restaurants to choose from, here are just a few you might like to try out whilst you are in St Petersburg:

Troika
Pelmenya
Severyanin
Duo Gastrobar
Pryanosti & Radosti (Spices & Joy)

NYE Live Stream

There seems to be a couple of good webcams for St Petersburg that might be able to capture you a live view of the fireworks when midnight arrives - try the Camera Review.

Latest NYE News

The content on this page is written and maintained by Yvonne Kerrigan. If you have any comments or events to add to this page please Contact us.

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