Vladivostok joins big night for museums

Museums laid on a smorgasbord of events here on Sunday as part of a global event aimed at encouraging the public to take advantage of the cultural and historical riches they hold. Events in this Russian Far East city included exhibitions of pictures and drawings and a free biking school. Almost all museums and exhibition palaces opened their doors till midnight for the annual international Night of Museums during the weekend, which attracted people of all ages, but especially the youth. This year's event featured collections of old and modern articles, displaying Russian history and culture. Visitors could also enjoy classic and modern music, talk to museum staff, and listen to stories from rare books and files from researchers. Meanwhile, the Pushkin Salon Museum launched a biking school Saturday, which offered free classes on rules of the road and skills of bike riding. The project was initiated by the Municipal Centralized System of Public Libraries and Museums and Bicyclization of Vladivostok, a non-governmental organization. "Our goal is to make it more popular as an easy and accessible way of transportation," Bicyclization of Vladivostok head Evgeny Mamaev told Xinhua, adding "new cyclists riding on the streets next to cars and buses have to know the traffic code." The classes will be available throughout summer.