If you were looking for a special reason to come to St. Petersburg, look no further. The Smelt Fish festival is a traditional holiday dedicated to a local delicacy – small fish from the Neva River and Lake Ladoga called smelt.
Saint-Petersburg`s inhabitants and guests attend this traditional food event to enjoy musical concerts and shows, participate in different games and master classes and, of course, to see how this small fish is cooked and sample it straight from the grills!
This year the festival will last for 2 days from May 13th to 14th.
On these days, the city will be filled with the appetizing smell of fried smelt, which, interestingly enough smells like a cucumber when fresh.
The centre of the festival is “Lenexpo” – the exhibition center on Vasilevskiy island – where a bright parade will be held by actors, musicians, puppeteers and motorcyclists.
Everyone can participate in fishing contests and quizzes for both old and young people. Visitors will be able to taste the fish soup cooked in a huge 1000-litre cauldron and fried smelt which will be cooked on over 50 grills!
