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28 july to 1 August 08

Tomsk (Russian: Томск) is a city on the Tom River in the southwest of Siberian Federal District, Russia, the administrative centre of Tomsk Oblast. It is located about twenty kilometres south-east of the town of Seversk, a major centre of plutonium production and reprocessing and uranium enrichment in Russia. One of the oldest towns in Siberia, Tomsk celebrated its 400th anniversary in 2004.

Tomsk has many local cultural institutions including drama theaters, a children's theater and a puppet theater. One can find music at the city concert hall, home of the local orchestra, or the Sports Palace where pop and rock stars perform. The city also has centers of German, Polish and Tatar culture where residents can study languages or learn about other countries.

Unfortunately, one of Tomsk's theaters was destroyed in an act of terrorism in 1905. The Korolevskii Theater (built in 1884-85) was being used by a group of communist revolutionaries one evening, when members of the Black Hundred struck. The Black Hundred was a hardline organ of the tsar and brutally stamped out opposition. The theater was set on fire with Black Hundred members shooting those who tried to escape the flames. Estimates of casualties ranged from 200 to 1000 people.

There are a number of museums in Tomsk including those devoted to art, local history and wood carving. Tomsk State University has a number of small museums with exhibits on archaeology, paleontology, zoology as well as a herbarium and botanical garden.