At the "opening of the tourist season," seedlings, tomatoes, and shashlik were offered.

      On Friday, May 1, the summer tourist season officially kicked off in Kirov. The upcoming event was announced by the Tourism Development Center, the city administration website, and the regional government website, promising Kirov residents an "extensive cultural program." However, after visiting "Walking Spasskaya," we saw a typical city fair, which, for some reason, the "tourist center" believed would attract the interest of both guests and residents of our city.

      In reality, this event caused disappointment, confusion, and what is known as "Spanish shame," as it strongly resembled a "bazaar" that had somehow moved to the city center. Stalls with knitted toys, badges, sweets, wooden dishes, jewelry, "bulk" perfumes, tents from various organizations promoting their goods and services, a couple of costumed mascots beckoning people to their stalls, a display of flower seedlings, boxes of cucumbers and tomatoes — it seemed that all the attributes of a rural fair were gathered on Spasskaya, calling it the "opening of the tourist season."

      By the way, at noon on May 1, there weren't many people strolling on Spasskaya. Perhaps due to the not-so-spring-like weather, or maybe because people decided to shop at other markets or went to their dachas for the traditional "May barbecue."

      Incidentally, there was no rush at the barbecue stalls, the smell of which lured those walking on Spasskaya. However, a few Kirov residents who came for the "opening of the tourist season" decided to indulge in some shashlik, which, by the way, was sold at a quite "reasonable" price — 230 rubles for 100 grams of shashlik. Moreover, the price was the same for both pork and chicken shashlik. Meanwhile, the neighboring stall with hot dogs, tea, and coffee was empty. Perhaps because people were drawn by the smell of grilled meat, or maybe because the hot dog there was more expensive — 299 rubles for a sausage in a bun.

      As for entertainment, the official events took place in the morning: the citizens were congratulated from the stage on the opening of the tourist season, Governor Sokolov gave a welcoming speech, and then representatives from the "Kirov Chocolate Museum" conducted something like an interactive session — asking the audience questions about sweets and rewarding Kirov residents who answered correctly with candies.