SOCHI, May 28. /TASS/. The carnival procession featuring Russian movies has kick started the high summer season in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi on Saturday.
"The summer of 2016 seems to be hot. The summer season is open," Sochi Mayor Anatoly Pakhomov said at the gala ceremony, wearing a white jacket and hat instead of his usual formal suit.
This year’s street festival paid tribute to popular characters from old Soviet and Russian films and cartoons.
The Sochi Park theme park staged a light and music show on a 15-meter water screen with the help of fountains with 200 sprayers and 600 tons of water, the organizers told TASS.
At least 17 water cannons of 20 meters each and three water cannons of 50 meters, ten engines of fire, 200 remote controlled illumination equipment and a modern system of laser projectors were engaged to make the streams of water and rays of light move rhythmically
Mountain slopes on the outskirts of the city have been adjusted for cyclists, who are replacing skiers in May.
"In the summer tourists will enjoy seven kilometers of tracks with the height difference of 340 meters and complete infrastructure," the organizing company said.
The city authorities are confident about the prospects for the high summer holiday period, with 96% of advanced booking, or 15% up against 2015. Hotels and health resort centers are capable of accommodating 120,000 guests in 67,000 rooms.
Major travel agencies applied bids for 100 chartered flights a week from 15 Russian regions to Sochi, the mayor’s office said. Last year, 42 chartered flights landed at the city’s airport every week. In 2015, six million travelers visited Sochi.