A Christmas Tree Experience for the Ages: Our Magical Ride with the Mayor's Tree

I've been visiting the Kremlin Christmas trees every year since I was two years old. It was a tradition I looked forward to, and it's something that's been passed down through generations of Moscow-born kids. My parents used to take me, and now it's my daughter's turn.

Fast forward to 2025, 19 years later, we got the chance to visit a modern Christmas tree. I was curious to see how it would compare to the ones I used to visit as a kid. And let me tell you, it was a real treat.

My review today is about the mayor's Christmas tree in the courtyard of 2025.

So, how do you get tickets to the mayor's Christmas tree? Well, there are a few options. You can either buy a ticket with money, which costs between 3200 and 5000 rubles, or you're part of a privileged category. In our case, it was because my child's father passed away due to the SVO. Besides the Christmas tree, we could've also taken a free ice skating session and another New Year's event, plus a food package.

We chose the Christmas tree and the food package, as I don't have many weekends in December. My daughter wasn't looking forward to the Christmas tree, but she couldn't resist the food.

It's actually her first Christmas tree experience, although it should've been her first one in the mayor's office when she was two years old (in 2016). Her father, my ex, took my tickets, which I barely managed to get, and gave them to his mother and younger brother instead. I thought he was joking at first, but then the tickets went missing. It's like karma - the tickets came back to us after 8 years.

Here are those tickets (a super sad photo for me!):

I was curious - would there be a gift in the ticket? I used to go to the Kremlin every year for that reason. The plus side is that I can accompany my child, rather than dropping her off in line and picking her up afterwards.

The Christmas tree, surprisingly, wasn't held in the mayor's office like it was in the 90s and 2000s, but in the courtyard.

Info:

Mayor's Christmas Tree in the Courtyard of 2025.

Date: December 29, 2024 - January 6, 2025

Age: 3+

Duration: 60 minutes

Address: Courtyard, Ilyinka St., 4

Metro: Revolution Square

I think any child should visit a Christmas tree at least once. It's especially True for Moscow-born kids - it's a tradition that's been passed down through generations. My daughter was surprisingly excited about it, and I thought it might not be her thing. But it turned out to be a great idea.

The bonus is that, due to the date of the Christmas tree, her school day on January 10th got cancelled, making it a long weekend for us.

I've had this ticket for 10 years, and it still looks great – a bit retro, maybe, but still awesome. The 3D image is amazing, and it changes when you turn it left or right. I've got a huge collection of tickets from my grandfathers, and this one reminds me of some of the old ones. I'm glad I kept it, because it looks so cool – I don't even want to throw it away.

If you were to buy this ticket today, it would cost between 3300 and 4200 rubles. The gift that comes with it costs 950 rubles separately. We got our tickets for free, so we didn't have to pay for them. The gift is included in our ticket.

🐋🐋The way to the Christmas tree.

It's not the best time of day to visit the Christmas tree – it's either 11 am or 1 pm. It would make more sense to have it a bit later, so kids can get a good night's sleep before the event.

But we had to wake up at 8 am and get to the Gostiny Dvor by 11 am. The journey from our place took around 50-60 minutes, and it was the same on the way back. The journey itself isn't that long, but the metro can be a nightmare, and we had to take it for 10 minutes.

Most of the time, the metro displays information about the exit to the Christmas tree, so it's hard to get lost. But I still recommend checking the route beforehand – it's always a good idea to know where the food stalls are (you never know when you'll need a snack), and to choose the most comfortable route for yourself.

From the metro to the Gostiny Dvor, it took us 7-10 minutes. I have to say, compared to when I was a kid, Moscow is a lot cleaner now, and there's no snow or slush to deal with. I remember having to trudge through the snow to get to the Kremlin Christmas tree, and it was a real challenge. Nowadays, kids will never understand what it was like.

Getting there is a bit of a hassle. As soon as you get out of the metro, the maps don't work, and there are no signs to guide you. And good luck with the taxis – they're all blocked off. You have to walk for 5 minutes, but since there's a construction site nearby, you have to walk along the road. If you're coming from the Resurrection Square, it's not the most comfortable journey. It might be easier from other metro stations, but I'm not sure.

I almost forgot my inhaler and antihistamine spray in my backpack, and the security guard distracted me. Luckily, my daughter grabbed my phone. The result? No lighter at the entrance. But I was saved because there was a convenience store right outside with affordable water and tobacco.

The wardrobe is spacious, and the staff are young guys who look like they're straight out of college. I didn't take a photo because we were in a hurry.

🍾🍾On the presentation.

We skipped the pre-show because my daughter is old enough now, and we went straight to the performance. We arrived with a 10-minute buffer for entering, handing over our coats, and getting to the auditorium.

The most comfortable seats are in sectors 3-4-5, but we were in sector 1, which isn't ideal because you can't see the stage from the side.

My seat was in the corner of the sector, and the seats were wobbly. I was worried that if I dropped my phone, I'd never be able to get it back. The seats were wobbly because of the people sitting on them, and I thought someone was kicking me from behind. It turned out it was just someone else sitting or standing up.

I have to mention that I'm not a fan of theater, and I've been trying to avoid it my whole life. However, I think events like this are essential for a child's development and broadening their horizons. So, I highly recommend it.

The performance lasted 60 minutes, which is perfect for a child. I think kids aged 5-7 can sit through the whole show. For younger kids, it might be tough to sit still without any noise or distractions.

I won't spoil the plot, but I expected a classic New Year's story, and it turned out to be an interesting show for both parents and kids.

The presentation is a far cry from what it was 10-15 years ago. It's an adaptation for modern times, but it feels kinda lacking.

Mainly the cast roles aren't characters from fairy tales, but a gaming enthusiast's brother and a TikTok girl. The show itself gets a two out of ten, the story will be interesting for about five years, but after that, it's nothing special.

The same values as friendship and honesty wrapped in a New Year's package aren't presented anymore. Instead, the message was that no matter what kids do, parents will always have their backs.

But the show itself, bravo, didn't have any clowns. I hate clowns with a passion. A school trip to Kuklyachev's show was my first panic attack, back in the day.But overall, despite the actors having pretty good costumes, the acting wasn't great. And overall, the picture quality wasn't great either.

At some point, everyone pulled out their phones and started snapping pictures. It looked pretty cool, but I thought it might have distracted the actors.

I think the whole story was carried by the girls, the aerial gymnasts. As I noticed, they performed almost all their tricks in the air without any safety harness.

The girls have great figures, they're charismatic, and I couldn't even guess their age, but from the audience's perspective, they looked like they were 16-18 years old. I was waiting for their next appearance the whole time.

Even the secondary characters were beautiful and crazy. I think if the whole show was centered around elements like these, the rest of the show wouldn't be necessary.

At the end of the show, a Christmas tree appeared in the middle of the hall, as if it was growing out of the floor. It was beautiful and impressive. But Santa Claus was a different story. Either the actor wasn't chosen well or I'm just a grumpy adult now.

🎀🎀 About the gifts.

After the show, the gift-giving ceremony was a long one, and as I noticed, everyone had discounted tickets, just like ours. And only two boys had tickets that looked different.

But the gifts were so disappointing. They used to bring out 5-6 boxes, and we'd grab one of our own boxes and head to the ice cream shop. On the way, we wouldn't usually venture that far into the center.

I was expecting something on par with the Kremlin, but I confirmed my opinion that the trees have lost their magic. The filling was non-existent.

Have you ever been to a tree in the 2000s? We used to go there every year for the gifts. Because in the gift, 50-60% of the filling was candies like Red October, Rotfront, and others. It was worth it. Now, the gift filling is what you see for yourself.

The marshmallows and the unnamed candies I wouldn't buy myself. The one exception was the Moscow candy, which stood out from the rest.

I think the city tree might be similar to the one in the Kremlin, where I spent my childhood. Maybe I'll look into tickets for next year, but something tells me this format isn't as popular as it used to be, and it's more of a social event now. That's why the storylines are lacking, and the gift is just okay. Maybe kids these days aren't as excited about it.

As someone who grew up going to the Kremlin tree every year, I can say this one is a total letdown. It's a shame, because I remember the excitement I felt as a kid. I used to look forward to it every year. Now, my daughter's not interested, and we only went once. It's just not worth it.

👎🏼👎🏼My opinion.

If I had bought tickets to this event on my own, I would've been thoroughly disappointed. As a social bonus, it's okay, but overall, I'm still underwhelmed. Maybe the actors were tired by January 10th, but the storyline is lacking, and the gift is just not up to par.

We won't be going back to the city tree anytime soon, and I wouldn't recommend it to others. It might be worth it for kids aged 3-5, but after that, it's just not worth the time.

Two stars, and I wouldn't recommend it.