The first rail road in Russia connecting St Petersburg and Tsarskoe Selo, and later Pavlovsk, was built in the middle of 1830s. The branch line went directly to the park in Bolshaya Zvezda district, where The Musical Station building was erected. It was here the tradition of concerts for the general public began, and the works by famous Russian composers, and, certainly, by the "Waltz King" Johann Strauss, were performed. The "Strauss seasons" brought a unique charm of Vienna music into the cultural life of St Petersburg and contributed to the spiritual union of the two countries' cultural elite. The tradition of summer musical seasons, stopped in 1917, was restored at the turn of XX-XXI centuries.

Within the frames of the Big Waltz festivals eleven concerts are held annually, in accordance with the number of summer seasons that Strauss spent in St Petersburg. The concerts are held in the Hermitage Theatre, the halls of the Winter Palace (The State Hermitage), the Grand Palace of Peterhof, the Catherine Palace in Tsarskoe Selo and the Rose Pavilion in Pavlovsk, where the great Austrian composer performed.

The Big Waltz Festival develops the traditions of democratic chamber performances established in the course of "Strauss seasons" almost two centuries ago. The programme of summer seasons includes symphonic and chamber music concerts, as well as vocal evenings. Among the participating musicians there are soloists of the world leading theatres, famous Russian and foreign conductors and performers.

The Chairman of the Honorary Festival Committee is Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director of the State Hermitage, Chairman of the Creative Alliance of Museum Employees of St Petersburg and the Leningrad Oblast, an inter-regional public organization, member of the Academy of Sciences. The artistic director and the originator of the idea for the festival is Yulia Kantor.

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