"The strength of the festival lies in its traditions. They are important, they must be preserved, but the festival will creatively evolve," the minister stated. He emphasized that the audience votes for the preservation of festival traditions. "The most compelling argument is that tickets for the festival are sold out, and the festival remains the most-watched project of the First National Channel," said Pavel Latushko.

During the ceremony, the Union State Prize in Literature and Art for 2011-2012 will be awarded. The laureates are People's Artist of Belarus Georgy Poplavsky and Russian poet Gleb Gorbovsky. People's Artist of Russia Lev Leshchenko will be presented with the "Through Art - to Peace and Mutual Understanding" award, and a star bearing the artist's name will be unveiled on the Alley of Stars near the Summer Amphitheatre.

Orthodox believers today celebrate one of the twelve most important Christian holidays - the Transfiguration of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ.

The construction of two residential buildings for families raising orphans and children left without parental care is being carried out under the presidential program "Children of Belarus" in the urban settlement of Vidzy, Braslav district, and the agro-town of Orekhovno, Ushachi district. Br2.4 billion has been allocated for their construction based on equal co-financing from the republican and regional budgets.

The first Center for Supported Living for disabled people and the elderly in the Vitebsk region will be built in the agro-town of Bychiha, Gorodok district. This was announced by Igor Isachenko, Chairman of the Committee for Architecture and Construction of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, at a session of the regional Council of Deputies.

The State Labor Inspectorate will strengthen the monitoring of work in organizations of the agro-industrial complex of the Vitebsk region during the spring field campaign. This was reported to a BELTA correspondent by Sergey Anufriev, First Deputy Head of the Vitebsk Regional Department of the State Labor Inspectorate of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection.

The conference will open on October 18 and will continue the series of scientific and practical events held by the Faculty of Economics of the Technological University since 2001. The current scientific forum will discuss current directions of sustainable socio-economic development of organizations and regions of Belarus and the development of practical recommendations for their effective implementation.

A large batch of smuggled cigarettes was discovered in coal wagons at the Polotsk station, the Vitebsk customs informed a BELTA correspondent.

The best sour cream, ice cream, and 'Suluguni' cheese are made in the Vitebsk region, according to the participants of the autumn season of the tasting competition 'Champions of Taste'.

Vitebsk region attracted the highest volume of investments in recent years in 2013. This was announced today at the awards ceremony for the laureates of the honorary title "Person of the Year of Vitebsk Region" by the chairman of the regional executive committee, Alexander Kosinets.

One of the main goals of the visit is the signing of a cooperation agreement between the Warsaw Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Communal Consulting Unitary Enterprise "Vitebsk Regional Marketing Center". As reported by Kazimierz Zdunowski, the Warsaw Chamber of Commerce and Industry is involved in organizing financing for investment projects or assists in finding partners. In Poland, within the framework of the Export Support Program for Goods and Services, the Bank of National Economy provides loans to importers for business representatives.