Grushinsky festival (russian: Грушинский фестиваль) is an annual Russian bard song festival that was established in 1968. It takes place near the city of

Samara Samara ( rus, Сама́ра, p=sɐˈmarə), known from 1935 to 1991 as Kuybyshev (; ), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara (Volga), Samara rivers, with ...

, on the Mastryukovo lakes. The festival takes its name from Valeri Grushin, a singer-songwriter who died during a backcountry camping trip trying to save his drowning friends. During

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

times, the formal oversight of the festival was performed by

VLKSM The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League (russian: link=no, Всесоюзный ленинский коммунистический союз молодёжи (ВЛКСМ), ), usually known as Komsomol (; russian: Комсомол, links=n ...

. Usual participants included

Yuri Vizbor Yuri Iosifovich Vizbor (russian: Юрий Иосифович Визбор; June 20, 1934 – September 17, 1984) was a Soviet bard and poet as well as a theatre and film actor. Vizbor was born in Moscow where he lived for most of his life. He ...

, Tatyana and Sergey Nikitins,

Bulat Okudzhava Bulat Shalvovich Okudzhava (russian: link=no, Булат Шалвович Окуджава; ka, ბულატ ოკუჯავა; hy, Բուլատ Օկուջավա; May 9, 1924 – June 12, 1997) was a Soviet and Russian poet, writer, musici ...

Alexander Dolsky Alexander Alexandrovich Dolsky ( rus, Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович До́льский, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ɐlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ ˈdolʲskʲɪj, a=Ru-Alyeksandr Alyeksandrovich Dol'skiy.oga; born on July 7, 1938) is a Soviet a ...

, Oleg Mitayev,

Leonid Dukhovny Leonid (Joseph) Dukhovny (July 18, 1938 – May 4, 2022) was a Soviet and American songwriter, poet, musician, bard, producer. Dukhovny wrote songs in Russian and Ukrainian languages, using his own lyrics, as well as lyrics by other poets. He ...

among others. Singer

Alexander Gorodnitsky Alexander Moiseevich Gorodnitsky ( rus, Алекса́ндр Моисе́евич Городни́цкий, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr məɪˈsʲejɪvʲɪtɕ ɡərɐˈdʲnʲitskʲɪj, a=Alyeksandr Moisyeyevich Gorodniczky.ru.vorb.oga; born March 20, 1933) ...

was festival's long-term director. The major landmark of the festival is the stage built on the

raft A raft is any flat structure for support or transportation over water. It is usually of basic design, characterized by the absence of a hull. Rafts are usually kept afloat by using any combination of buoyant materials such as wood, sealed barrel ...

, in the shape of a guitar, with its fingerboard serving as a bridge to the shore. The Grushin Mountain ridge serves as natural stands for thousands of visitors. The number of visitors, as well as of participants, increased every year, starting from only 600 in 1968 to 2,500 next year, and the peak of Soviet era Grushinsky was reached in 1979 - 100,000 spectators. This record was broken in modern times: 1997 festival attracted 140,000 spectators. Similarly, the number of artists in 1969 was 20, and in 1976 it grew up to 143. In 1980 the fest was cancelled and was resumed only in 1986. Since then it has become a regular annual event. In the late 1990s, the festival became commercialized, and broadened its format larger than only bard songs. Some

Russian rock Rock music became known in the Soviet Union in the 1960s and quickly broke free from its Western roots. According to many music critics, its "golden age" years were the 1980s (especially the era of perestroika), when the Soviet underground roc ...

ers, such as

Yuri Shevchuk Yuri Yulianovich Shevchuk (russian: Юрий Юлианович Шевчук; born 16 May 1957) is a Soviet and Russian rock musician and singer/songwriter who leads the rock band DDT, which he founded with Vladimir Sigachyov in 1980. He is bes ...

of DDT, now perform there as well. Since 2007 Grushinsky has split into two rival festivals of the same name. The main promoter of the fest, the Grushin Club, has moved to a venue near Tolyatti. The festival at Mastryukovo lakes is still held without their promotion.

External links

History of Grushinsky

Samara Grushinsky festival

Tolyatti Grushinsky festival
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