"This wonderful holiday, which gathers thousands of guests in Belarus, has become a good tradition and contributes to the spread of cultural values of the Slavic peoples, strengthening their spiritual unity. The festival is famous for its warmth and hospitality, for which the Belarusian land has been generous since ancient times. Its friendly, creative atmosphere and rich program attract fans of music, theater, dance, cinema, and painting. I am convinced that this time too, many vivid impressions await us," - it is emphasized in the congratulation of the President of Russia.

In total, as of August 28, 398.9 thousand hectares of grain crops have been harvested in the region, or 81.7% of the cultivated area. Less than 4% of the area remains to be harvested by farms in the Gluboksky and Chashniksky districts before the end of the harvest, and 7.6% by the Dokshitsky district. Over 80% of the area has been harvested by the Beshenkovichi, Verkhnedvinsk, Vitebsk, Lepel, Orsha, Polotsk, Postavy, Tolochin, and Sharkovshchina districts.

The possibility of granting the city of Energetics the status of a district center instead of the current district center of Chashniki was announced today by the Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, Alexander Kosinets, during a joint meeting of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee and the presidium of the Vitebsk Regional Council of Deputies.

The region is implementing the project "Strengthening the Sister of Mercy Service of the Belarusian Red Cross Society". Within its framework, international experts and employees of the regional organization are holding a conference dedicated to the role of the elderly in modern society and the conditions for realizing their potential.

The Vitebsk Regional Television Channel will begin broadcasting in May 2014. This decision was made at a meeting of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee during the consideration of the role of mass media in implementing the state's information policy in the Vitebsk region.

An alternative to natural gas is biogas. A cheaper fuel resource can be obtained by using industrial and household waste. By 2015, the construction of 8 biogas complexes is planned in the Vitebsk region.

On the upcoming weekend, August 3-4, a specialized fair-sale "Fish of Belarus" will be held in Vitebsk on Lenin Street (section from the mini-cafe "Eridan" to the cafe "Avrora").

In Dubrovno, a man who had been beating his cohabitant for about two decades has been brought to criminal responsibility.

The district harvest festival "Dazhynki", the competition "Our House is Rich for All!" and the song festival "We Gather a Star Dance" will take place on August 24-25 in the Verkhnedvinsk district of the Vitebsk region, the district executive committee informed a BELTA correspondent.

On the eve of the 70th anniversary of the Great Victory, a solemn ceremony of taking the oath by employees of the Investigative Committee Department for the Vitebsk Region was held at the museum of the Hero of the Soviet Union, Minay Filippovich Shmyryov.

This international event was held as part of the implementation of project LLB-1-057 "Creation of a joint response system for accidents involving the spill of hazardous chemicals and oil into the Daugava River during the winter period", funded by the European Union.

Possible risks of enterprise modernization projects must be calculated at the business plan stage, said Gennady Grebnev, First Deputy Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, at a meeting of the regional executive committee, which reviewed the implementation of measures under the program "Development of the Industrial Complex of the Vitebsk Region until 2015"

Thirteen puppet theaters from the Vitebsk region will take part in the regional festival-competition of amateur groups "Puppet World", which will be held in Senno on November 4.

A recreational area with infrastructure facilities for the leisure of townspeople will appear in Braslav, reported Andrey Davydenko, Deputy Chairman for Construction, Architecture, and Housing and Communal Services of the Braslav District Executive Committee.