The 20th Gumilyov Festival in 2026 is a Constellation of Anniversaries

By Olga Efimova, a poet, Deputy President of the Gumilyov Society, Russia

For readers of Nikolai Gumilyov, 2026 is marked by several anniversaries. 140 years since the birth of the great Russian poet. 15 years since the Gumilyov Society was established. On August 26, it was 105 years since the death of the poet. 5 years since the Museum “Gumilyov House” was opened in Bezhetsk. The Gumilyov Festival held in Bezhetsk on August 21–23 is also the twentieth anniversary . A whole constellation of Gumilyov’s anniversaries shaped the atmosphere of the festival — this year it was especially vibrant.

On August 21, a solemn opening of the festival took place in front of the monument to the Gumilyov family. According to a good tradition, the official ceremony was preceded by a poetic microphone: the participants recited Gumilyov’s poems and their own. The opening was accompanied by an exhibition of works by Moscow artists Angelina Pavlova and Platon PelevinSemyonov titled “Poets of the Silver Age” and by Bezhetsk artist Svetlana Efimova titled “Images of Bezhetsk”.

The Bezhetsk Literary and Historical Museum hosted the Gumilyov Readings, which were notable for their broad thematic range, as specialists from various fields took part in them. Olga Medvedko, the president of the Gumilyov Society and cultural studies expert, held a presentation of her book “The Gumilyov Society: 2011–2026”. Yuri Shchegolkov, Director of the “Gumilyov House,” summarized the results of five years of work and spoke about the prospects for developing the museum as one of the main attractions in Bezhetsk: it was opened and continues to exist thanks to the efforts and support of enthusiasts. Svetlana Lobanova spoke about the history of a new authentic exhibit — a porcelain ashtray that previously belonged to Nikolai Gumilyov’s father and was donated to the Museum “House of Poets”. Literature teacher Olga Akhmetova from Nizhny Tagil delivered a report on Nikolai Gumilyov’s Egyptian cycle of poems. Serafima Kireeva, a MA student at Moscow State University presented an interesting research on the images of bridges in Gumilyov poetry. Marina Paskul, a librarian from Nizhny Novgorod region, spoke on the Okulovkarelated pages of Gumilyov’s life as well as on his war poems.

The administration of the Bezhetsk Municipal District, headed by Igor Pavlov, organized a roundtable titled “The Golden Ring: Resources and Brands of Bezhetsk in the System of Interregional Tourist Routes,” where the prospects for developing the city of Bezhetsk as a tourist center were discussed.
The concert by the duo from Tver, Tatyana and Sergey Levin, was a sellout and was named after Gumilyov’s poetic line: “My house is made of stars and songs.” In the evenings, informal meetings were held with readings of poetry. The highlight of this year was the participation of several prose writers in the festival, thanks to which the program “Prose of Life” was put on the schedule of the festival The audience was particularly impressed by the stories of producer and screenwriter Evgeny Vesnik from Moscow, full of sparkling humour, as well as by Yuri Shchegolkov’s piece of writing about the adventures of foreign tourists in Russia.
A significant highlight of the festival was the 20th poetic SlepnevskoGradnitsky Youth Meetings (those were the places where the Gumilyov family used to live), which were also held in an anniversary year. They were organized by Galina Kozlovskaya, the director of the “Raspberry Fairy Tale” museum. There were many poetic readings, city tours, excursions and othr events that attracted many teenagers and schoolchildren.
On August 22, the participants and guests of the festival had the opportunity to visit the Museum “House of Poets” in the village of Gradnitsy, which is located in the former estate house of the Gumilyov family. In 1911 Nikolai Gumilyov brought straight from Paris his young wife, the future great poet Anna Akhmatova, to his parents’ house immediately after their honeymoon. Their son Lev (who later became a well known scientist Lev Gumilyov) spent his childhood here. The blue room, which Anna Akhmatova recalled in her poems, is located in this house too.
My shadow remained and it pines there, listless,
In that light and blue room, it has settled down,
Past midnight it waits for the guests from the town,
And kisses the small, enameled image.
(Translated by Andrey Kneller)

Museum director Elena Polevanova gave a tour of the “House of Poets,” impressing the festival participants not only with her stories but also with her profile, which resembled Akhmatova’s.
The program for the second day was rich in poetic events: a musical and poetic program by Olga Lukasheva and Sergei Oleinik (Voronezh); performances by participants of the “Poetic Microphone” from various cities; an editing session for the authors of the almanac “Tver Crossroads,” conducted by Viktor Serov and Galina Toropova; and an author’s program by Olga Sinyuk (Sergiev Posad), who not only read poems but also raised the issue of religious and philosophical lyric poetry as a genre. Candidate of Cultural Studies Lidia Kroshkina (Tver) conducted an indepth reading of one of Nikolai Gumilyov’s poems, ensuring that the participants in the discussion were fully immersed in the meanings of the poetic text.
The evening screening of the film “Gumilyov Mysteries” by the young director Alexey Yurgaitis was preceded by a meeting with Bezhetsk young actors, schoolchildren who were members of the film crew. They shared their firsthand impressions of working on the set, where they discovered the poetry of Nikolai Gumilyov.
Sunday, August 23, began with a visit to the old Bezhetsk cemetery, where a memorial service was held at the graves of Nikolai Gumilyov’s mother and sister. During the turbulent revolutionary time Gumilyov was falsely accused of counter-revolutionary activity and executed by a firing squad on August 26, 1921, at the age of 35. It is symbolic that a few days before the tragic date, the festival participants were presented with a project about poets who passed away early — “To Leave. To stay. To Live.” Nikolai Mileshkin and Sergei Krinitsyn (Moscow) spoke about several authors, including Anna Gorenko, who adopted the real surname of Akhmatova as her penname..
For all three days, the “Gumilyov House” welcomed guests. The author’s tours by Yuri Shchegolkov and Olga Medvedko attracted the maximum number of participants, which indicates the growing interest of people in everything related to the name of Gumilyov.

The festival ended on a vibrant musical note. Poet and legendary rock musician Sergei Kuzin shared his thoughts on the role of visionary experience in creative work and presented several musical ballads. Poets and bard musicians Sergei Oleinik (Voronezh), Vladimir Abdulov (Bezhetsk), and Olga Sinyuk (Sergiev Posad) delighted the audience with new songs.
Thus, three unforgettable days flew by, filled with poetry, music, captivating discussions, book presentations, fascinating excursions, and new discoveries.
To conclude the review of the festival events, I would like to quote Olga Medvedko, the president of the Gumilyov Society: “What began in 2007 as youth poetry meetings, initiated by teachers and schoolchildren from the town of Sonkovo, has now turned into a powerful poetic, musical, and scientific event, in which people from 15 cities across Russia took part. The Gumilyov Festival continues to live, work, create, promote the work of Nikolai Gumilyov, bring people together, create new projects, and inspire the younger generation.”