The "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk" festival will expand its participant geography to 34 countries this year - R. Bass

June 24, Vitebsk / Sergey Kotovets - BELTA /. About 5,000 artists and performers from 34 countries will take part in the XIX International Festival of Arts "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk". For the first time, representatives from Montenegro, Panama, and Cuba will come to the music forum. This was announced today at a press conference by the Director of the Vitebsk Culture Center - Director of the Directorate of the International Festival of Arts, Rodion Bass, a BELTA correspondent reports. "The festival preparations have entered the final stage, so today we can unequivocally talk about the festival program and the surprises that are being prepared for the audience," he noted. This year, the festival week will "accommodate" 70 creative projects, for which 16 concert and creative venues in the city will be used. 19 concerts will be held in the Summer Amphitheater alone, and Yuri Antonov will be the first to take its stage on July 7 with a solo program. Traditionally, the opening ceremony of the song forum stands out with its stellar and international lineup of participants - Nikolai Baskov, Larisa Dolina, Dmitry Hvorostovsky, Yuri Antonov, Stas Mikhailov, Elena Vaenga, Inna Afanasyeva, ensembles "Pesniary" and "Syabry", Taisiya Povaliy, Thomas Anders, CHENIE and NEVEGRIN, Helena Vondrackova. For the first time, the renovated Victory Square will host two concerts at once. The participants of past "Eurovision" contests will be the first to test the capabilities of the new festival object on July 10. Then, on July 14, the square will be at the disposal of the Eurovision-2008 winner Dima Bilan and his fans. According to Rodion Bass, for the first time in its history, the Vitebsk festival will host solo concerts by foreign pop stars. On July 8, the festival audience will have the opportunity to attend a performance by Thomas Anders, and on July 12, fans of Italian pop music will gather in the Summer Amphitheater for a solo concert by Toto Cutugno. Until the last moment, the lineup of the creative team for the Day of Ukraine concert at "Slavianski Bazaar" was being finalized, and it became known only the day before, Rodion Bass noted. This year, the country will be represented by Taisiya Povaliy and Nikolai Gnatyuk, as well as a number of young performers, vocal groups, choreographic and circus ensembles. 19 contestants from 19 countries will take part in the international competition of young performers, including, for the first time, a representative from Cuba will join the fight for the Grand Prix. Belarus will be represented by Denis Vershchenko, a soloist of the Gomel Regional Philharmonic Society. The jury of the adult competition will be headed by Taisiya Povaliy. At the children's song contest, which will be held for the 8th time, 22 participants from 19 countries will be presented, including, for the first time, young artists from the Netherlands and Montenegro. Zlata Larchenko and Anya Zaitseva will perform for Belarus. The XIX International Festival of Arts "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk" will be held from July 9 to 15. -0-