Winter in St. Petersburg is a special time of year. 100-200 years ago, things in the imperial capital only really came to life towards winter, since in the summertime the tsars and court would leave St. Petersburg to go and holiday in one of their out-of-town residences. As a result, during the summer nothing in particular would happen in the city, whilst in the winter, cultural life really took off. It was a time of numerous concerts and performances, theatre premieres and exhibition previews, royal balls and national holidays. Now all of these wonderful traditions are being revived, and St. Petersburg’s social calendar is becoming more and more packed with every winter.