More than 5,000 guests from 34 countries will gather at the XVIII International Festival of Arts "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk"

July 10, Vitebsk /BELTA correspondent/. The XVIII International Festival of Arts "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk" will bring together over 5,000 guests from 34 countries. Its grand opening will take place today, reports BELTA correspondent. Eighteen concerts will be held on the festival's main stage, the Summer Amphitheatre. It is expected that about 100,000 spectators will watch the concerts in the amphitheatre alone. The concert programs feature names such as Lara Fabian, Sarah Connor, Raimonds Pauls, Valery Leontiev, Roza Rymbaeva, Sofia Rotaru, Yadviga Poplavskaya and Alexander Tikhanovich, Boris Moiseev, Valery Meladze, and Nadezhda Kadysheva. "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk" will hear the triumphant "The Tale" by Eurovision winner Alexander Rybak. The Norwegian of Belarusian origin will take part in the festival's grand opening concert. Traditionally, the festival will host concerts by masters of arts from Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, and Moscow. Latvia has sent one of the largest delegations of artists, painters, and musicians – about 100 people. Creative groups and performers from Kazakhstan, Israel, China, and Vietnam will be guests of the festival. For the first time, the flag of Brazil will be raised at the festival flagpole. "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk" is a long-term, large-scale interstate cultural event of Belarus and Russia, aimed at uniting multinational creative forces, all the most valuable that each national culture boasts, fostering interaction and interpenetration of different cultures, spiritual unity of the world's peoples, and creating a peaceful community. Therefore, "Slavianski Bazaar" is one of the largest cultural projects of the Union State, and its Day has been celebrated at the festival since 2003. At the current festival, the "Photo Chronicle of the Union State" will be presented on the Day of the Union State, and creative meetings will be held with nominees for the Union State Prize in Literature and Art for 2009-2010. Traditionally, a press conference by State Secretary of the Union State Pavel Borodin will be held at the festival. On the closing day of the festival, on behalf of the Standing Committee of the Union State, diplomas and memorable prizes "For Creative Implementation of the Ideas of Friendship of the Peoples of Belarus and Russia" will be awarded to participants of creative programs. The festival of arts is open and mass-oriented, contributing to the revival and development of artistic culture and art. It is designed to support young talents and innovation in artistic culture and art. Artists from 17 countries will take part in the international pop song performers' competition "Vitebsk-2009". Belarus will be represented in the competition by 23-year-old Andrey Kolosov, a soloist of the Gomel Regional Philharmonic, a laureate of the second prize at the international festival of pop creativity "Zvezdny Krym". The international jury of the competition will be headed by Laima Vaikule. No sooner will the fanfares in honor of the Grand Prix winner of the adult competition die down, than the competitive relay will be picked up by the children's music competition "Vitebsk-2009". 19 young talents from 16 countries will take part in it. Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine have delegated two performers each. Two Minsk residents will represent Belarus – seven-year-old Masha Novik from the National Center for Musical Arts and 11-year-old Lolita Gaydukevich. Both girls are laureates of international competitions. The jury of the children's competition will be headed by People's Artist of Belarus Leonid Zakhlevny. The future stars, who will undoubtedly be discovered by the festival, will take their first step towards the most prestigious award of the festival – "Through Art to Peace and Mutual Understanding." It was established by a decree of the head of state in 2005 and is awarded to cultural and art figures, creative groups, and organizations that have made a significant contribution to strengthening international cultural cooperation, promoting achievements and examples of world artistic culture based on humanistic ideals and values. The first laureate of the prize in 2005 was Russian composer Andrey Petrov. In 2006, Alla Pugacheva was awarded this prize, in 2007 – Sofia Rotaru, and in 2008 – Alexandra Pakhmutova. The names of these renowned artists and the 2009 laureate will be immortalized for the first time on the Alley of Fame of the Summer Amphitheatre. "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk" is not just about pop concerts. Over 70 events of various kinds will take place during the XVIII International Festival of Arts "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk". Vitebsk will turn into a City of Masters. Masters of folk crafts from Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine will come to the fair, which will be located in the "Zadvine" Center for Folk Crafts. Vitebsk, Smolensk, and Pskov artisans, as well as guests from Bila Tserkva, Ukraine, will showcase their works here. A huge number of creative meetings with artists and writers are planned for the festival. Yevgeny Yevtushenko and Mikhail Kozakov, performances by Moscow theaters, and meetings with masters of Israeli opera – all this has been prepared by the XVIII International Festival of Arts. Festival guests can look forward to an exhibition of 100 etchings by Marc Chagall – illustrations for N. Gogol's poem "Dead Souls." About 600 representatives of mass media and online resources will cover the events of "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk." Accredited journalists include those from Russia, Great Britain, Germany, the USA, China, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, and other countries. The concerts of the festival will be broadcast by Belteleradiocompany and the Russia TV channel. For the first time, Russian viewers will see the performances of the young performers' competition in full. In addition, Russians will watch recordings of the opening and closing concerts of the festival and the days of national cultures – Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. Belarusian viewers will be able to follow the festival extravaganza live – all concerts, except for solo night performances, will be broadcast on Channel One. From the budget of the Union State, 24 million 896 thousand Russian rubles have been allocated for the "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk" festival. The Russian side's share is 9.3 million rubles, and Belarus's share is 15 million 596 thousand Russian rubles. The XVIII International Festival of Arts "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk" will be held this year from July 10 to July 16. -0-