A twenty-two hour train ride northeast of Moscow brings you to the town of Veliky Ustyug. In 1998, it became home to Father Frost, the main holiday-season miracle-maker in Russia.

The project “Veliky Ustyug – Homeland of the Russian Father Frost” was initiated by the Mayor of Moscow Yuriy Luzhkov and the Governor of the Vologda region Vyacheslav Pozgalyov. The main objective of the project is to acquaint the younger generation with Russian national traditions and the culture of the Russian North, as well as to attract Russian and foreign tourists to Veliky Ustyug.

Father Frost holds court at his castle, a strict gentleman in a Russian troika, a three-horse drawn sleigh. This character is straight out of Russian folklore.

The co-founders of the Father Frost joint stock company are the Vologda oblast government, the administration of the Veliky Ustyug municipal district, and the Novatorsky forestry company (lespromkhoz).

Father Frost lives in his wooden palace in the pine forests at Votchina, 15 kilometers away from the town of Veliky Ustyug on the bank of the Sukhona river. His residence includes not only the house of Father Frost, but also comfortable cottages made of wood, a restaurant, a recreation center with a sauna, a swimming pool, and a billiard room. Here you can find a wide range of sporting equipment, such as skis, sledges, boats, fishing-rods, etc. There are sports to suit every taste. You can ride a horse, sing and dance in a ring, or take part in special competitions.

In the town of Veliky Ustyug tourists can visit a special shop called Father Frost, where they can buy New Year souvenirs and books about the project “Veliky Ustyug – Homeland of the Russian Father Frost.”

The post office in Veliky Ustyug must be one of the busiest of all the post offices in Russia, as it delivers all the correspondence of Father Frost. Both children and grown-ups in Veliky Ustyug can send post-cards and letters with a special seal and autograph of Father Frost to their relatives and friends. Over the years of its operation, the post office of Father Frost has received more than 1 200 000 letters from Russia and other countries of the world. Children often send not only letters, but also their pictures, poems, and best New Year’s wishes to Father Frost. The postmen of Father Frost send replies to the letters mailed to the most remarkable resident of Veliky Ustyug.

The joint-stock company Father Frost offers a variety of travel programs that provide a true air of New Year’s fairy tale atmosphere and focus on the pure pleasures of the great outdoors – “New Year at Father Frost’s Votchina,” “Winter Holidays in the Residence of Father Frost,” “Fairy Travel to Father Frost.” Thousands of children and grown-ups from different Russian regions travel to the homeland of Father Frost every year.

One of the main objectives of the project is to bring commerce to Veliky Ustyug. The volume of merchandise sold in the city increases by 8 to 12 percent every year. The focus is on products carrying the label of Father Frost.

It has become customary to organize special New Year festivals and amusing competitions for both children and grown-ups in Veliky Ustyug. The events are accompanied by firework and music. The winners get prizes from Father Frost and the Snow-Maiden.

Special fairs of New Year and Christmas souvenirs are held in Vologda (September) and Veliky Ustyug (December – January) annually.

The Vologda oblast government, the government of Moscow, and the government of Lapland are taking part in the implementation of an international program Father Frost – Santa Claus. The aim is to establish and sustain international cultural and educational partnership ties that will last.

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