City Hall said Thursday that it would not allow a rock concert to be staged on Pushkin Square this weekend to protest the partial destruction of the Khimki forest for a highway, even after several well-known rockers had agreed to play.
City Hall said in a statement that it had authorized a rally on the square but received no request for a concert and would not permit one.
A concert on Pushkin Square would also require permission from the nearby Pushkinsky movie theater, which has not been obtained, City Hall spokesman Alexander Khokhlov told Interfax.
But organizers of the rally, titled “We All Live in the Khimki Forest,” said they never intended to hold a concert but only a rally where musicians in attendance could perform if they desired.
Earlier reports said the event would be hosted by legendary rock critic Artemy Troitsky and include performances by DDT frontman Yury Shevchuk, Alexander F. Sklyar, Barto, Televizor, OtZvuki Mu and others.
The rally is to protest federal authorities' decision to raze part of the centuries-old oak forest north of Moscow to make way for an $8 billion highway to St. Petersburg.