Higher education institutions of the Vitebsk region cooperate closely with higher education institutions of Russian regions not only in scientific and educational spheres, but also in cultural ones. It was in the student environment that the idea of creating a student arts forum was born, which would unite and showcase the talents of young people from Belarus, Russia, and other countries. The youth initiative has found support at a high state level, added Alexander Kosinets. "Youth is our future. These are future heads of enterprises, politicians. If they build good relationships in their youth, then it is a guarantee that they will continue in the future. This will undoubtedly benefit our states," the governor is confident.

The gala concert of the event will take place at 6:00 PM on Vitebsk's main stage – the Summer Amphitheater. Famous Belarusian pop artists and the best ensembles of the Vitebsk region will perform for the numerous audience, which will include representatives of labor collectives of the city's enterprises and organizations, as well as students.

The scientists' presentations are organized by sectional meetings. "At the same time, during the presentation of their scientific reports, we expect to hear about interesting discoveries concerning previously unstudied and little-known facts of the history of the Polotsk land," noted Tamara Dzhumantaeva. The conference has been held every five years since 1987. Such an interval gives scientists the opportunity to uncover new pages in the history of the Polotsk land.

Vitebsk will allow the "Fakel" festival to burn even brighter, said Svyatoslav Belza, People's Artist of Russia, laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation, and chairman of the jury of the Gazprom OJSC corporate festival "Fakel", at a meeting with journalists, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.

Customs officers and the financial police prevented the import of goods worth almost Br250 million into Belarus from Russia, the Vitebsk customs informed a BELTA correspondent.

A linden alley in honor of Olympic champions has been laid in Vitebsk, reports a BELTA correspondent.

Today, the Belarusian "Lialka" Theatre in Vitebsk will present a premiere – the adult play "The Violin of the Swamps and Heather Wastes." The production, based on the works of the most prominent Belarusian writer of the 20th century, Vladimir Karatkevich, was staged by the theatre's artistic director, Honored Art Worker of Belarus Viktor Klimchuk.

In the berry championship, which is being held for the fourth time, more than 120 teams of 4 people each have expressed their desire to participate.

The seventh meeting of the Belarusian-Latvian working group on cooperation in the field of disaster prevention, natural disasters and other emergencies, as well as their consequences mitigation, was held recently in Novopolotsk.

This summer, 29 suburban health resorts will operate in the Vitebsk region, with another 2 being mothballed due to construction work on the Vitebsk HPP, reported Elena Andreykova, head of the representative office of the "Vitebsk Regional Department of the Republican Center for Health Improvement and Sanatorium-Resort Treatment of the Population."

"Orthodoxy in the Formation of National Identity of the Younger Generation" is the theme that brought together about two hundred participants of this project – clergy, благочинный assistants for youth work, education, missionary work, educators, representatives of various educational institutions, the Center for Orthodox Education of St. Euphrosyne of Polotsk…

A bust monument to Pavel Melnikov, the first Minister of Railways of the Russian Empire, a mechanical scientist, and engineer, will be unveiled today in Shumilino (Vitebsk region), the Shumilino District Executive Committee reported.

The international pop song performers' contest "Vitebsk-2015" has concluded at the Summer Amphitheatre, the main stage of the "Slavianski Bazaar" festival. Following two final rounds, a top five leaders has been determined. They are a Kazakh, a Belarusian woman, a Bulgarian, a Ukrainian woman, and a Georgian woman. They are vying for the awards – the Grand Prix and laureate prizes. As a reminder, on Saturday, young talents from 15 countries performed a song in a Slavic language accompanied by an orchestra conducted by Mikhail Finberg. On Sunday, they performed a world hit to a minus-one backing track.

The world's only chocolate replica of Chagall's painting "The Lovers" is on display in Vitebsk, becoming one of the many unique exhibits at the "Chocolate Museum".