Father Frost Comes To Moscow

New Year celebrations have come to Moscow to be traditionally led by Russia's Santa Claus-Father Frost who brings gifts and gaiety to households. The aim of this year's Father Frost forum is to boost the prestige of this personage, says Igor Uvenchikov, president of the folk customs development fund. In his opinion, the national rituals of New Year celebrations can be retained only through enhancing the skills of entertainment agencies responsible for New Year events and by supporting Russian producers of Christmas commodities and services (merely 6-8 percent of Christmas goods are manufactured now in this country).