Yes! 10 Years – 10,000 Congratulations!
On September 13, Yes! flung open the doors of its fabulous kingdom to its readers. So many people came to the celebration wanting to congratulate their favorite magazine on its 10th anniversary that there was almost no room to stand. It was a miracle-filled day in Moscow's Yekaterinsky Park, as guests met with the heroes of their favorite comics and fairy tales.
There was real magic onstage as spectators thrilled to a procession of such modern storybook characters as Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet, Shrek and Fiona, the Prince and Princess, Donald Duck and the traditional Baba-Yaga. During breaks between their enchanting presentations, the following personalities and groups congratulated Yes! on its anniversary: Kira Plastinina, Alexei Vorobyov, Dakota, Dino MC 47, Fast Food, Ed Shulzhevsky, BK!, Barkhat, T'anya, Delta and many others. Alternative groups also offered their congratulations. Visitors saw and heard live performances by Gianny Radary, Chicken Shampoo, Mr. Humbert, Lazy Bitches and Acid Umbrellas. Members of T9 even improvised congratulatory lyrics to the tune of their hit song, Ode to Love. Headlining the party was the group BIS.
Throughout the celebration, 10 separate entertainment areas offered guests a range of amusements from which to choose. At the Yes! - Stars area, show business fans received autographs from popular actors, and then listened as they gave interviews. Fans of extreme sports were awed by parkour demonstrations at the area hosted by A-ONE, the first alternative music television station. Visitors, whose friends had dragged them away from their computers to come to this bash, were able to continue their favorite pastime by playing video games at the Nintendo area. The most stylish young women lined up at the Got2Be and Palette XXL areas, where they were given dreamy hairdos and photographed wearing different colored wigs. Intellectuals passed the time with mind-enriching activities at the Scrabble site, and polyglots stopped in at the Oxfordcrown and English First sites. Practically every guest carried a complementary gift ball or pennant from Muz.ru. Hungry visitors could stop by the area hosted by Arkady Novikov's Prime Star cafe chain. Not far from the VIP pavilion was a charity exhibition of the best photos from 10 years of "PhotosYes!sion," the results of which will be announced at the end of September. And only at this amazing event could every guest end up on the cover of Yes!
The VIP zone was just as crowded with guests as were the other areas. It featured tasty cocktails from Prime Star, and a master of Eastern cuisine who put on an authentic sushi show especially for VIP guests. Spectators could watch the presentation without having to leave the pavilion by viewing a live broadcast on Rolsen plasma screens.
The fabulous gathering included announcements of the results of two major competitions that the magazine had conducted over the last six months: "Become a Yes! Editor," and "The Face of www.yes.com.ru." The first required participants to create their own issue of Yes! magazine. Seven finalists were chosen from among the hundreds of entries received. Each of the young editors received prizes from the event's sponsors: driving courses, dates with stars, gift certificates from Kira Plastinina and chic cosmetics. But the main prize -- a pink Yes! automobile - went to 14-year-old Anna Yevtushenko of Novosibirsk, to whom Yes! magazine's editor in chief, Irina Ilina, personally handed the key. There were an equal number of participants for the competition "The Face of www.yes.com.ru." The 10 finalists selected received fantastic gifts from Yes! and from the event's sponsors. The winner will appear on the upcoming issue of Yes!
Finally, Yes! presented a surprise for all of the assembled guests - a festive cake with candles and a fireworks display. And for those who could not attend the festivities in person, organizers arranged for the proceedings to be broadcast online at .
