The Rossijski Fermer (Rossijski Fermer, Rossiysskiy Fermer) or Russian Farmer is an agricultural exposition held every August since 1990 on the grounds of Lenexpo trade fair complex in St.Petersburg.  The trade show is fairly big with over one thousand exhibitors from all over Russia and 25 foreign countries who occupy several pavilions and exhibition halls as well as countless outdoor stalls peddling all sorts of imaginable merchandise from cars and agricultural machinery to pseudo traditional home made alcoholic beverages like the mead and the ale.

Aside from a few rabbit breeders who participate in the show (and I personally think rabbits are too cute to be used as livestock anyway),  no farm animals are exhibited – quite odd for an agricultural fair.  Although quite a few companies sell tractors, machinery, food processing and packaging equipment, the majority of participants are either retail merchants or individual farmers who sell their produce to the general public under open air in a setting that resembles an Oriental bazaar. The noise is overpowering and the crowds are extremely dense, in some sections of the expo grounds it felt like being on a crowded public bus.  The expo has a few exotic features like pilaf and kebab sellers who were apparently imported from Central Asia.  Kebabs are delicious though. The expo is a good place to sample different beers – and even to get drunk – quite a few small, regional brewers had set up their retail stands where you can buy beer on tap.  Another noticeable feature is the disproportionately large number of elderly people, who I assume are not interested in heavy machinery but come to buy inexpensive farm honey and garden produce.  Unless you are a connoisseur of fertilizer and agricultural machinery, the only interesting thing about the expo (at least from the perspective of an average person) is that it is a great place to watch people and have some fun in the process. 

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One of exhibition buildings or exhibition pavilions.

Side view of the same building.