An ice town opened in Yekaterinburg for the Year of Ural Rock.
Snowmen in spiky wristbands and with electric guitars, a labyrinth with a "goat," records of the most popular bands of the Sverdlovsk Rock Club, ice sculptures with Nautilus quotes, and light installations.
"Every year, there's a tradition for the ice town to be dedicated to a specific theme, which we'll be discussing throughout the coming year. And, of course, one of the central themes for 2026 is the 40th anniversary of the Sverdlovsk Rock Club," the mayor said at the ice town's opening ceremony. Ekaterinburg Alexey Orlov.
The themed ice town cost the city budget more than in previous years - more 26 million rubles, follows from the government contract data. Ice had to be brought from Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Because the winter in Yekaterinburg itself has been unusually warm this year, the camp will only operate for 20 days—it's scheduled to close on January 18.
NeMoskva previously reported that 2026 has been declared the Year of Ural Rock in Yekaterinburg. The occasion marks the 40th anniversary of the founding of the local rock club, one of the three main rock clubs in the USSR. To mark the occasion, the Mussorgsky Ural Conservatory has even announced that it will begin enrolling students in the "pop rock and pop department" in the new year.
Some in the music community believe that the authorities' active participation in the Sverdlovsk rock anniversary "canonizes" the counterculture movement. Museum and memorial projects are being cultivated, from new exhibitions about the rock underground in Yekaterinburg museums to a tribute album for the rock club's 40th anniversary.
At the same time, the official agenda includes not only “convenient” rockers like those who are in solidarity with the government’s policies Vladimir Shakhrin and spiritually silent Vyacheslav Butusov, but also the figure Ilya Kormiltsev, which is one of the most striking examples of non-conformism and struggle against the system:
“Here you can play the trumpet to yourself,
But how not to play, you all play hang up.
And if there are those who come to you,
There will be those who will come for you."
