ASTANA — Are you tired of spending mundane weekends with just Netflix and a takeout? With a shorter work week due to holidays and pleasant weather, The Astana Times has curated a captivating list of events that promise to turn your ordinary weekend into an extraordinary adventure.
Khan Shatyr, entertainment center. Photo credit: Evgeny Tkachenko.
Silk Way Dance Festival on May 13 at 7 p.m.
Silk Way Dance Festival is the largest ballroom dance festival in Kazakhstan. It brings together the best dance pairs from more than 15 countries. The performance will be accompanied by live music by Boris Myagkov Big Band.
Photo credit: Instagram @silkway_dancefestival.
Address: Museum of the First President; 1, Bokeikhan Street. Tickets are available on ticketon.kz.
Spring Flight solo exhibition on May 13-14.
Alpysbay Kazgulov is one of the most popular artists in Kazakhstan and abroad. He is a member of the Union of Artists and a recipient of the Order of Parasat. He created more than 7,000 paintings, the majority of which are on display at galleries and private collections in Europe, Asia, and America.
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The exhibition is open until June 25.
Venue: National Museum of Kazakhstan; 54, Tauelsizdik Avenue. Tickets are available here.
“Pygmalion” play on May 13-14.
Sintez experimental theater will stage “Pygmalion,” based on the magnificent comedy of George Bernard Shaw.
Photo credit: Instagram @theatre_sintez_
The story is about Colonel Pickering, professor of phonetics Henry Higgins and florist Eliza, who meet on the street of London. Pickering and Higgins argue whether the professor can teach an uneducated commoner how to talk like an aristocrat. A funny experiment leads to unexpected consequences.
Address: Sintez experimental theater; 4, Dostyk Street. Tickets are available here.
HAVASI’s piano concert on May 14 at 7 p.m.
HAVASI is a contemporary composer for symphony orchestras, choirs and string ensembles. He has sold over 500,000 concert tickets and received ovations in many of the world’s iconic concert halls, such as Carnegie Hall in New York, the Sydney Opera House in Sydney and Wembley Stadium in London.
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His unique and original musical style combines the depth and discipline of classical tradition with the diversity of world music, the power of rock and a spectacular performance that takes the audience on an exciting musical journey.
Venue: Concert Hall of the Philharmonic Hall of the city of Astana, 32, Kenesary Street. Tickets are available on ticketon.kz.
Premier of “Petite Mort” (Little Death) ballet on May 13-14.
Photo credit: Gregory Batardon.
The Astana Opera ballet dancers will perform the ballet in two parts. The first part is a “Chopiniana” – a one-act ballet to music by Frederic Chopin. The second part is a performance of ballets “Petite Mort” and “Six Dances.” The ballet “Petite Mort” was created to the music of Wolfgang Amadeus for the Salzburg Festival in 1991 on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of Mozart’s death.
Address: Astana Opera; 1, Qonaev Street. Tickets are available here.
Immersive audio performance walk, “Dreams in the Big City,” on May 14 at 11 a.m.
Photo credit: Official poster.
“Dreams in the Big City” is a heartfelt and motivational audio performance where you can immerse into the history of the capital and discover the stories of its citizens. The audio play will help to feel the atmosphere of Astana, where the metropolis is a stage and random passers-by become actors while the action unfolds in the listener’s head.
The walk begins at 5 Mambetov Street. The endpoint is in the Central Park area.
A $2.03 ticket includes rented headphones and receivers for the time of the performance. Tickets are available on ticketon.kz.
Tour to the Korgalzhyn Nature Reserve on May 14.
Korgalzhyn Nature Reserve is the largest protected area in Kazakhstan of around 258.9 million hectares, including 198,000 hectares of wetlands. Korgalzhyn nature reserve has a popular name, “bird bazaar,” as the area hosts more than 350 species of birds.
Photo credit: Qazaq Geography.
The tour price includes a guide, an excursion program, transportation, lunch, entrance tickets to the visitor center, eco fees and rental of binoculars.
For more information and tickets, contact +77051900345 via WhatsApp.
