"The Merry Goat" is a historical nickname for the official symbol of Nizhny Novgorod: the reindeer.
Also, the Merry Goat is an annual festival of theatrical humor and an all-Russian review of theatrical kapustniks, held in Nizhny Novgorod. The festival's official stage is the Actor's House named after Vikhrov.
Background
V.A. Gilyarovsky wrote in his book "Under the Merry Goat":
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The Merry Goat was the name given to the Nizhny Novgorod coat of arms: a red deer with its antlers thrown back over its spine and one foreleg raised in a somehow jaunty way. Local residents drew the deer in various ways, and everywhere it drew a smile from onlookers: "Wha-a-at a merry goat!" | 
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Interesting Facts
* One night the bronze sculpture installed on Bolshaya Pokrovskaya was taken down and stolen by unknown culprits, but it was safely found in one of the neighboring courtyards. No one was ever held responsible for the goat; it was put back in its original place and securely fastened down.
- The well-known satirist Viktor Shenderovich regularly comes to perform at the "Merry Goat" festival — he too is a man of the theater (a teacher of stage movement). He considers Yevgeny Yevstigneev, a graduate of the Nizhny Novgorod Theatre School, to be his teacher.