Just eight days remain until the 35th International Festival of Arts Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk. BelTA invites you to take a look back: each day, through our archival materials, we highlight the most memorable moments from every edition of the festival, year by year. Today, we turn to the 2019 edition.
The 28th International Festival of Arts Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk took place on 8-17 July. The opening ceremony and gala concert were held at the Summer Amphitheatre on 11 July, and the closing ceremony on 15 July.
“The place where you were born” was the concept of the opening gala concert of Slavianski Bazaar, a tribute to one’s homeland, family and universal values, as well as continuity between generations. From the stage of the Summer Amphitheatre, the president noted that this was exactly how the festival had been envisioned in the early 1990s: as a response by creative people to the breakup of a great multinational country. “They united to preserve fraternal relations between the newly independent states. It is natural: in difficult times people always find moral support in art,” Aleksandr Lukashenko emphasized.
At the gala concert, he presented the president’s special award Through Art to Peace and Mutual Understanding to People’s Artist of Ukraine and Ingushetia Taisia Povaliy. The singer noted that the Vitebsk festival had become her road to the big stage, and she always returns with great joy. On the same day, her personal cornflower appeared on the Alley of Stars.
The main events of the festival were the 28th International Pop Song Performers Contest Vitebsk 2019 and the 17th International Children’s Music Contest Vitebsk 2019. A rich cultural program was prepared for the children to help them get acquainted with Belarus. Participants of the pop song contest visited BelAZ, performed for factory workers, learned about the production of ultra-heavy machinery, and even climbed onto the deck of one of the giant trucks. Participants of the children’s contest visited the Vitba confectionery factory and went on an excursion around Polotsk. The Grand Prix of the children’s contest in 2019 remained in Belarus, while among adult performers it was won by a representative of Kazakhstan.
The Union State Day was held in two parts: official events and cultural projects. The Art Museum hosted a presentation of Rostov enamel, accompanied by a fashion show. Vitebsk also presented a one-day exhibition, replicas of the Great Imperial Crown. At the museum-estate Zdravnevo, a media session titled “Union State: How to pass on the cultural code to youth” was held, dedicated in part to the 175th anniversary of the birth of Ilya Repin. Participants discussed the preservation of the artist’s cultural heritage and the shared cultural space of Belarus and Russia. The concert The Union State Invites was centered around the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the ensemble Pesnyary.
Youth Days at Slavianski Bazaar in 2019 adopted a new format. Events were held at several venues: near the Vitebsk Concert Hall, on Victory Square, and near the Summer Amphitheatre. The open-air youth intellectual tournament included competitions such as team “Jeopardy”, “What? Where? When?”, “Quadriga”, a cover-band festival, a 2.5-km youth run, a festival of youth subcultures and healthy living, a car-audio festival, and an exhibition of retro cars and bikes.
The street-art festival In Seven Winds also took place in a new format. More than 500 people participated. One of the highlights was setting symbolic records. In 2019, one thousand kisses were collected on the Pushkin Bridge.
The City of Craftsmen in Zadvinye brought together mostly traditional folk artisans. Bright additions to the craftsmen’s fair included festive competitions in vytinanka Azhurnyya Mary, straw weaving Paparats Kvetka, patchwork quilting Vitebsk Mosaic, and traditional clay whistles Salaveyka.
At Slavianski Bazaar, the concert of champions and finalists of the Higher League of the International KVN Union brought together the teams Soyuz, Triod and Diod, Russkaya Doroga, Plyushki imeni Yaroslava Mudrogo, as well as Belarusian groups from Minsk and Vitebsk. In the final, the teams received copies of the festival’s prize, the Lyre.
For the first time, the festival hosted the international project Dream Dance Fest. More than 130 dance groups from Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Greece, and China competed in various categories (show program, folk dance, contemporary, pop, classical, street dance, belly dance). The youngest participant was 3 years old, and the oldest was over 60.
On the closing day of Slavianski Bazaar, the Summer Amphitheatre hosted the gala concert of Italian performers Viva, Italia! Singer Pupo demonstrated how to work with the audience: he walked between the rows, hugged spectators, and turned his performance into a lively disco. At the end, he invited five spectators onto the stage, including an Italian, and together they performed Gelato Al Cioccolato.
The main program of the 35th International Festival of Arts Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk will run from 16 to 19 July, with the first concerts already taking place on 14 July.
