Decembrist Evenings Festival, Irkutsk: Concerts and Salons in December

Decembrist Evenings Festival, Irkutsk, is a regional historical and cultural festival held every December since 1985, according to the museum’s festival page. It is organized by the Irkutsk Regional Decembrist Museum and the regional ministry of culture, and its center is the museum, which consists of two memorial houses, those of the Volkonsky and the Trubetskoy families.

The festival remembers the nobles who were exiled to Siberia after the uprising of December 1825 and their families. The program includes theatre, concerts, film screenings, conferences, literary and music salons and meetings, in Irkutsk and other towns of the region. Dates and programs change every year, so check the official source for the current edition.

Quick Facts

Russian name	Областной историко-культурный фестиваль «Декабристские вечера»
Type	Recurring event
When	Every year in December, over two to three weeks
Typical duration	Two to three weeks in December, with the exact span changing from year to year
Address	Дом-музей Волконских, переулок Волконского, 10, Иркутск; Дом-музей Трубецких, улица Дзержинского, 64, Иркутск
District	Irkutsk (historic center, around the Volkonsky and Trubetskoy house museums)
Admission	Entry to the events held in the Decembrist museum is free, according to the organizers in past years. Some events at other venues, such as film screenings or concerts, may have their own ticket rules.
Best time to visit	The festival is held in December, with events mostly in the evenings and some during the day. December in Irkutsk is very cold, with snow, so dress warmly. The days before the new year are the busiest.
Website	imd38.ru/proects/dekabristskie-vechera-festival-012
Last updated	October 13, 2026

Dates, programs and prices change from year to year. Always check the official website for the current edition.

Why Visit Decembrist Evenings Festival, Irkutsk?

The festival gives a chance to see two historic house museums at their liveliest. Past programs have included performances of the Volkonsky Home Theatre, literary and music salons in the houses, curators’ tours, film screenings and concerts, according to the museum and news items, in the weeks before the new year.

It also fits a winter visit well. Entry to the festival events held in the Decembrist museum is free, according to the organizers in past years, and the houses, with their period interiors, are warm and atmospheric on dark December evenings. The festival is mostly in Russian, so it suits visitors who read Russian or who are interested in the historic interiors and the atmosphere.

What to Expect at Decembrist Evenings Festival, Irkutsk

The festival usually opens with a ceremony in one of the house museums, often the Trubetskoy house, according to news of past years. The program then covers several directions: scientific, museum, publishing, theatrical, literary and musical, according to a news item, with special attention to curators’ tours, open lessons and events for children.

Typical elements are performances of the Volkonsky Home Theatre, which is recreated in the museum and plays pieces of the first half of the 19th century, literary and music salons in the Volkonsky and Trubetskoy houses, film screenings, scholarly conferences and a conference for schoolchildren, book presentations and meetings in libraries, according to the museum’s pages. Events also take place outside the city, in Angarsk, Shelekhov and in villages linked to the Decembrists, such as Urik and Oyok, according to a reference page. A theatrical program called Night at the Museum is held each year.

Highlights of Decembrist Evenings Festival, Irkutsk

The Volkonsky Home Theatre

The museum has recreated the Home Theatre of the Volkonskys, which plays pieces of the first half of the 19th century, according to the museum's pages, and its performances have been part of the festival program in past years. The Volkonsky house is on Volkonsky Lane. The theatre is small, so places are limited.

Tip: Check the schedule early and book a place if the museum asks for registration.

Literary and music salons

Salons in the Volkonsky and Trubetskoy houses combine literature, music and conversation in period rooms, according to the museum's pages and news items. They echo the evenings that the exiled families held in Irkutsk. They are usually in Russian.

Tip: Arrive early, since the drawing rooms are small and fill up.

The Volkonsky house museum

The Volkonsky house on Volkonsky Lane is one of the two memorial houses of the museum, opened in 1985 after a long reconstruction, according to a museum page. Prince Sergei Volkonsky moved his two-storey house to a new plot in 1845, according to the same page. The rooms show the family's life in exile.

Tip: Look at the drawing room and the boudoir of Maria Volkonskaya.

The Trubetskoy house museum

The Trubetskoy house on Dzerzhinsky Street is the other memorial house, opened in 1970, according to the museum's pages, in the estate of Prince Sergei Trubetskoy. The festival has opened in this house in some years. It is a good place to see the museum's exhibits on the Decembrists in Eastern Siberia.

Tip: Visit both houses on the same day, and check their opening hours.

Conferences, book presentations and library meetings

The program includes scholarly conferences, a conference for schoolchildren, presentations of collections of scholarly articles and exhibition catalogs, lectures and meetings in libraries, according to news items and a reference page. They are mostly for people who are interested in the history. They are in Russian.

Tip: Check the program for events with open entry.

Events outside the city

Events are held in Angarsk and Shelekhov and in villages linked to the exiled Decembrists, such as Urik, Olonki, Ust-Kuda, Oyok and Elan, according to a reference page and news items. They show how widely the memory of the Decembrists is kept in the region. Travel needs planning.

Tip: Check the transport and the timetable if you plan to attend a village event.

What It Means for Your Visit

The festival does not close streets or change the working calendar. Its effect is mainly on the two house museums, which are busier during the festival, with extra events in the evenings, and on hotels and restaurants nearby. The houses have regular opening hours outside the events, with Monday or Tuesday as a closed day depending on the house, so check each one.

Plan to check the program early, since popular events, such as the theatre performances and salons, have limited places. December in Irkutsk is very cold, so dress warmly. Check the official source for the current edition, since the dates, the venues and the programs change every year.

Atmosphere

The festival feels intimate and old-fashioned. Candles and warm lamps light the rooms of the two houses, floors creak under visitors’ boots, and period furniture and portraits fill the drawing rooms. You hear piano and voices from a salon, the soft rustle of costumes at a theatre performance and, outside, the cold quiet of a December evening.

The mood is calm and thoughtful, with an audience of local residents, students and history enthusiasts. Evening events are the main ones, and the snow outside the wooden houses of the old center adds to the atmosphere.

History of Decembrist Evenings Festival, Irkutsk

The festival remembers the Decembrists, the nobles who took part in the uprising of December 1825 in Saint Petersburg and were exiled to Siberia, many of them to the Irkutsk region, together with their families.

The Irkutsk Decembrist Museum grew from an exhibition created in 1925 for the hundredth anniversary of the uprising, according to a regional government page. The Trubetskoy house museum was opened in 1970 and the Volkonsky house museum in 1985, according to the same page. For 30 years the museum was a department of the regional museum of local lore, and it became an independent institution in 2000, according to a reference page.

Since 1985, in December, a regional historical and cultural festival called Decembrist Evenings has been held in towns and villages of the Irkutsk region, according to the museum’s festival page. Its founders are the regional ministry of culture and the Decembrist museum, and the museum is the main organizing center.

The festival has grown over the decades. A recent edition was the 41st, according to news items, and it was timed to the 200th anniversary of the uprising and the 55th anniversary of the museum, with a program that ran for several weeks and included theatre, film screenings, conferences and presentations in Irkutsk and Angarsk.

The dates have changed over the years. Older sources give the festival’s span as 14 to 26 December, while a recent edition ran from 1 to 23 December, according to news items.

The details above come from the museum’s pages, a regional government page and news items, and should be checked against the current official program.

Tickets and Booking for Decembrist Evenings Festival, Irkutsk

Entry. Entry to the festival events held in the Irkutsk Decembrist Museum is free, according to the organizers in past years. Some events at other venues, such as film screenings in a cinema or concerts in a hall, may have their own ticket rules. Some small events in the houses may ask for registration because of limited seats.

Organizer. The festival is organized by the regional ministry of culture and the Irkutsk Decembrist Museum, which publishes the program on its site imd38.ru.

Planning. The program, the dates and the rules change every year, so check the current announcement on the museum’s festival page. Regular museum tickets for the two houses outside the festival events have their own rates, which differ for Russian citizens and for foreign visitors, so check the museum’s site.

How to Get to Decembrist Evenings Festival, Irkutsk

The main venues are the Volkonsky house museum on Volkonsky Lane 10 and the Trubetskoy house museum on Dzerzhinsky Street 64, both in the historic center of Irkutsk. Irkutsk has no Metro, so most visitors arrive on foot, by tram, bus or taxi.

• From the center: both houses are within a short walk or taxi ride from Kirov Square and Karl Marx Street; check a map for the entrances.
• By tram, bus or taxi: check the current routes with the operators, since they change.
• From the station or the airport: a taxi to the center is the easiest way.

Other venues, such as libraries, cinemas and the philharmonic, are listed in the program. See the Irkutsk guide for how to reach the city.

Accessibility

Accessibility was not verified for the houses and the other venues. The houses are historic wooden buildings with stairs, so visitors with reduced mobility should ask the museum about entrances and access when planning a visit.

Food Nearby

The old center has many cafes and restaurants within a short walk, including some covered in separate guides, such as Pepel on Sukhe-Bator Street and Restoratsiya Kuptsa Nemchinova on Bogdanov Lane. Book a table in advance for the evening.

What to Bring

Bring very warm clothes and indoor shoes or slippers if the museum asks, since the houses are old. Bring cash in rubles for small purchases and a charged phone.

Best Views and Photo Spots of Decembrist Evenings Festival, Irkutsk

The Volkonsky house in the snow

The old wooden house with carved details covered in snow and lit by lamps gives a classic winter picture of old Irkutsk.

Best time: Early evening in December.

The drawing room of the Volkonsky house

The period drawing room with its furniture and portraits is the best interior picture, but check the rules about photography.

Best time: Between events, with permission.

Photography Rules

Photography inside the museum houses and at performances may be restricted or need a permit, and flash is usually not allowed, so ask the staff and follow the rules posted at each event. The exteriors of the houses can be photographed freely.

Family Suitability

The festival suits families with older children who are interested in history, and the program includes events for children and open lessons, according to a news item. Most events are in Russian, and evening salons are for adults. Strollers are hard to use in the historic houses.

Russia Vibes Tips

• Check the program as soon as it is published and plan the evening events in the two houses, since they have limited places.
• Visit both houses on the same day, and check their different closed days before you go.
• Dress very warmly, since December evenings in Irkutsk are very cold and the walk between houses is outdoors.
• Combine the festival with a walk through the old center and the oldest churches in the winter evening light.
• Look for the Night at the Museum program, which is a theatrical event held each year.
• Bring a translation app, since most events are in Russian.

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FAQ: Decembrist Evenings Festival, Irkutsk

When is the festival?

Every year in December, over two to three weeks. The exact dates change, so check the museum's festival page.

Since when does it run?

Since 1985, according to the museum's festival page.

Who organizes it?

The regional ministry of culture and the Irkutsk Decembrist Museum, according to the museum's pages.

Is it free?

Events in the Decembrist museum have been free, according to the organizers, while some events at other venues may have their own ticket rules.

Where are the main events?

In the Volkonsky and Trubetskoy house museums and in libraries, cinemas, the philharmonic and other venues in Irkutsk and Angarsk.

Who were the Decembrists?

Nobles who took part in the uprising of December 1825 and were exiled to Siberia, many of them to the Irkutsk region.

Are events in English?

Mostly in Russian, so check the program, and bring a translation app if you do not read Russian.

Are there events outside Irkutsk?

Yes, in Angarsk, Shelekhov and in villages linked to the Decembrists, according to a reference page and news items.