The action takes place in the small provincial town of Zarechensk. There are many such small towns, at first glance forgotten by God and where nothing seems to happen, in central Russia. The most influential people in Zarechensk are the mayor Fedorov and the director of the welfare office Zaitsev. But their influence is not enough to find the money needed for the town. This is what distresses Zaitsev and makes the mayor drink a little too much. They dream of some patron who would turn up at their place ... And then one frosty November evening, the train stops at Zarechensk station, with on board celebrities from the capital returning from a film festival in a coastal town and returning home to Moscow. The whole town, led by the mayor, goes to see the stars. But neither the stars nor the inhabitants of Zarechensk would have guessed that instead of stopping for two minutes, the cheerful train would stay in the province for several days, days that would change the fate of the poor town and that of the travelers.
