Overview: The biggest city in the Russian Far East, Vladivostok, gave birth to a new opera and ballet theater in October 2013. The very first International Mariinsky Far East Festival was held at this theater during the summer of 2016, and Valery Gergiev served as the festival's artistic director. The world's top class artists, along with the young artists at the theater gave performances for 12 days. We followed these dedicated artists who are given a rare opportunity to perform on the big stage, as well as the citizens for whom this festival was something very special.