From May 22 to 31, 2026, the Chekhov Museum-Reserve Melikhovo will host the Spring of Melikhovo International Theater Festival for the 26th time. It is the oldest theater presentation in Russia featuring performances based on works by Chekhov or about Chekhov himself. This year's festival poster details more than 20 performances from Russia, Kazakhstan, Abkhazia, Belarus, Serbia, Vietnam and Iran.
The Spring of Melikhovo Festival has been held annually since 2000 by the Anton Chekhov Museum-Reserve Melikhovo with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Moscow Region. Professional theaters and on-stage performance groups from Russia and from abroad are invited to take part in the festival with performances based on the works by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov or about Chekhov himself.
The festival also features a special program called "Chekhov+", which presents productions based on works by other authors. The 2026 season will introduce to you performances based on the works by Mikhail Bulgakov due to his 135 year birth date we celebrate this year.
Vasily Kuznetsov, Minister of Culture and Tourism of the Moscow Region:
The Spring of Melikhovo Festival each year proves that the works by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov are well-known and appreciated all around the world. And in addition, I would like to point out that the number of productions based on his works does not go down no matter how times change. In my opinion, it is also highly important that this festival, which has been taking place in the Moscow region for over 25 years, serves as a platform for presenting and exploring the legacy of the great author both to large academic theaters and student stage groups. And each one of them finds their audience here at Melikhovo.
For your information: from September to December 2025 there were 103 applications submitted from theaters from 13 countries to take part in the XXVI International Spring of Melikhovo Theater Festival. The final poster, compiled by the Expert Council of the festival, features performances to be presented by theater groups from Moscow, St. Petersburg, the Moscow region, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Nizhny Tagil and Samara. As for theaters from Sukhum (Republic of Abkhazia), Almaty (Republic of Kazakhstan), Minsk (Republic of Belarus), Zaecar (Serbia), Hanoi (Vietnam), Tehran (Iran), they will make up the international part of our program.
In total, there are about 30 events in the Spring of Melikhovo poster: in addition to theater presentations, you may also enjoy meet-the-artist sessions with such theater actors as: Alyona Babenko, Ivan Stebunov, Vasily Bochkarev, Yuri Vasiliev, Polina Kutepova and Sergey Nikonenko.
Anastasia Zhuravleva, Director of the Anton Chekhov Museum-Reserve "Melikhovo":
In terms of events, this year the festival's program is as diverse as ever. Our audience will enjoy performances based on various genres of Chekhov's work. The highlight of the 2026 festival will be the production of "Uncle Vanya", written by Chekhov in Melikhovo 130 years ago. At the time, Chekhov was genuinely surprised by a happy stage life of his play: since before it was even staged at the Moscow Art Theatre in 1899, "Uncle Vanya" had already been successful at numerous provincial theaters. "My "Uncle Vanya" travels all over the province and it is a success everywhere. In fact, you never know where you may find and where you may lose," Chekhov wrote in one of his letters. I would not be wrong in saying that this is one of Chekhov's plays that is most beloved by theaters. At the Spring Festival in Melikhovo, the opening performance will be a legendary production of "Uncle Vanya" by the Maly Drama Theater (MDT), one of the leading theaters of Europe, directed by Lev Dodin. For the guests of the festival, and especially those who saw the Maly Drama Theatre's production of "The Seagull" last year, this will be a unique opportunity to experience Lev Dodin's Melikhovo "Diptych" in the very place where both plays were conceived.
During the festival, there will be performances at various venues. These include the stage at the center of Anton Chekhov's Melikhovo estate, which has an indoor hall. Additionally, there will be performances in the theater courtyard and on the stages of the Serpukhov Musical Drama Theater and the Podolsk Drama Theater.
