A spectacle of Russian culture, orchestra and dance will be sounded across Bahrain this week as a major festival, The Days of Russian Culture, featuring five days of breathtaking performances opens tomorrow (November 17).

The festival is being organised by the Culture Ministry in collaboration with the Russian Embassy, and will be held at the Cultural Hall and Bahrain National Museum until Wednesday. It will also feature exquisite displays of traditional handicrafts and photography exhibitions, said a report in the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.

Tomorrow night's opening ceremony will be attended by Culture Minister Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa, Russian Ambassador Victor Smirnov and ministry arts and culture director Abdulqadar Akeel along with other officials and guests.

The festival's main attraction is St Petersburg-based Horn Orchestra of Russia, which has played more than 400 concerts in Russia and abroad since its founding in 2006.

The 20-member orchestra will put on a dazzling display of music tomorrow night during a performance called 'Higher Than Mountains'. They will perform another concert of brass music, called 'The Pipes of Victory', on Sunday, which will feature folk, marching and church music.

On Monday, they will play popular classical music by Russian and European composers. All three performances will start at 8pm at the Cultural Hall, next to Bahrain National Museum.

Folk dance group, Lezginka, will also take to the stage tomorrow night and will put on another rendition of 'Higher Than Mountains'.

The Dagestan-based group has been performing since 1958 and visited more than 65 countries with more than 48 international awards in folk dance under their belt.

They will put on another show on Tuesday, where they will perform an act called 'Legends', which was inspired by a Dagestan programme. Both performances will start at 8pm at the Cultural Hall.

The festival will end with two exhibitions, which will highlight the country's heritage, culture and scientific advancements.

A photography exhibition, Space, will showcase advancements made in space exploration and has been prepared by Rosphoto - a Russian state museum and exhibition centre.

The magnificent photographs of Earth taken from space were shot by Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergei Krikalev during one of their space expeditions.

The other exhibition will showcase a variety of traditional and modern handicrafts, which include jewellery, woodwork, pottery, women's dresses and artistic Ossetian craftwork.

It is based on culture from the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, which is a federal subject of Russia.

Both exhibitions will run from tomorrow until Wednesday at the Bahrain National Museum, from 8am until 8pm. All the events are free. -TradeArabia News Service