The 11th International festival of folk arts and crafts "Golden Khokhloma" will be held in the town of Semenov, the Nizhny Novgorod region. The opening is scheduled for June 14.
During two days, residents and guests of the town will be able to see best works of folk crafts and arts of Russia and other countries. About 600 craftsmen will display their works on the central square of the town and adjacent streets. The "giant samovar" will take a special place at the exhibition.
Guests of the festival will be able to buy items that they like, attend performances of creative groups, participate in various workshops and visit the "Khokhloma" factory for Open Days. A competition of woodcarving masters "Nordic Patterns" will be held as well.
During the recent years, three museum and tourist complexes "City of Masters" have been built in the region: in Gorodets, "The Golden Khokhloma" and the Museum of Folk Life - "The House of Semyon-Lozhkar" in Semenov.
The growth rate of the tourist flow in the Nizhny Novgorod region is one of the highest in Russia. Since 2005, the number of tourists traveling to the region has increased by more than 1.5 times - from 526 to 870 thousand people a year. The regional target program "The development of domestic and inbound tourism in the Nizhny Novgorod region 2012-2016" has played a significant role at this point. The head of the region, Valery Shantsev, signed the program in 2012. It involves government support to appropriate investment projects, marketing of Nizhny Novgorod tourism products inside and outside the country, the creation of new tourist attractions and assistance in personnel training.