Cossack dancers in Potters Fields Park to promote Maslenitsa Russsian festival

The free Russian event takes place on Sunday 7 February in Potters Fields Park and will include live folk and contemporary music, delicious Russian food and children's entertainment.

Maslenitsa is the traditional celebration to welcome the Russian spring and revellers often mark the occasion by feasting on 'blini' pancakes before Lent.

"A pre-Lenten festival, Maslenitsa is the perfect way to experience the richness of Russian culture in London. Londoners and visitors alike will be able to feast on blinis, whilst enjoying traditional folk dance and contemporary live performances," says Mayor of London Boris Johnson.

"Russian Londoners are a vibrant, important community who greatly contribute to the fantastic teeming cosmopolis of cultures that make this capital truly unique."

Other performers at the event will include: group 'After 11' from the folksong theatre 'Russian Song', founded by the famous folk diva Nadezhda Babkina, Dmitry Danilenko, the recent winner of a 'grand-prix' at the international 'Slavyansky Bazar' festival of arts (2009); the instrumental folk group White Day celebrated throughout Russia for their balalaika and rock performances; the talented young singer Alexa Pol a winner in last year's Russian song contest in London; and the charismatic bluesmen from St Petersburg, Billy's Band.

There will also be performances by a folk dance group from the Tatarstan Republic and the Russian Orthodox Church Choir of London.

The children's programme in The Scoop at More London will feature puppet theatre pieces and interactive entertainment.

• See pictures from last year's Maslenitsa event