Burlington, Vermont, and the Russian city of Yaroslavl formed a sister city partnership in 1988. Since then, exchanges between the cities have included mayors, business people, firefighters, jazz musicians, youth orchestras, choreographers, high school students, medical students, nurses, librarians, architects, journalists, a theater troupe, and hockey players – from the Yaroslavl Torpedo professional team in 1991 to the Yaroslavl Bears pond hockey team in 2020. In 1993, Burlington’s Champlain and Trinity Colleges sponsored the education of six students from Yaroslavl. Since then, dozens of Yaroslavl students have had the opportunity to study at Champlain College, and Yaroslavl State University and University of Vermont have sponsored programs for graduate and undergraduate students going in both directions. The participation of schools, universities, and young people remains an important goal on both sides of the partnership.

In 2009, following two decades of successful exchange between Yaroslavl and Burlington, the Russian-American Association Friendship Society in Yaroslavl was established. One year later, in 2010, the first “Bridge Over the Ocean” festival was organized in Yaroslavl with the participation of both cities.

Over the past decade, the annual “Bridge Over the Ocean” festival has remained vibrant and successful thanks to the partnership of two non-profit organizations, the Russian-American Association in Yaroslavl and the Burlington/Yaroslavl Sister Cities Program in Burlington. Delegations have traveled from Burlington to participate in the festival, most recently in 2018, the 30th anniversary of the sister city partnership agreement. The goal of the festival, and of its non-profit sponsors, is to promote mutual understanding and people-to-people connections in areas of mutual interest between the sister cities.