The theme of the 65th anniversary of Victory will be the leitmotif of the VIII Republican Festival of National Cultures

May 27, Minsk / Tatyana Pastushenko - BELTA /. The theme of the 65th anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War will be the leitmotif of the VIII Republican Festival of National Cultures, which will be held in Grodno on June 4-6. This was announced today at a press conference by Deputy Minister of Culture of Belarus Tadeusz Strazhevsky, BELTA correspondent reports. "Each festival of national cultures, while preserving the basic traditions of its holding, acquires some specific features. The peculiarity of this year's festival is that most of its events will be dedicated to the 65th anniversary of the Great Victory. The theme of war and Victory will be traced in almost everything," noted Tadeusz Strazhevsky. Another feature of this year's celebration will be that 40 national courtyards will operate at the festival, while at the previous festival there were 27. The program has also significantly expanded: more than 70 events will be held, some of them for the first time. In addition, participation of international and foreign delegations, representatives of embassies of various countries in Belarus, as well as twin cities of Grodno is planned. During the festival, it is planned to consider a proposal for its accession to the International Organization of Festivals, in order to attract even more attention from Europe and the whole world to this unique cultural event, and to present it abroad. The idea of holding a festival of national cultures can be used by other countries. "The festival is unique not only in Belarus, but also in the whole of Europe. Events of this format are not yet held in other countries," said the Deputy Minister of Culture. Tadeusz Strazhevsky recalled that the opening of the VIII Republican Festival of National Cultures took place in May last year at the Belarusian State Philharmonic Society. Regional city festivals, which can be called qualifying rounds, were held from October to December 2009. More than 2.5 thousand people performed with concert programs during this time, and for the final events in Grodno, the republican jury invited 792 representatives of different nationalities, including 74 ensembles and 122 solo performers. During the qualifying rounds, programs were prepared by representatives of nationalities who had not previously participated in the festival - Tajiks, Turkmens, Turks. And if representatives of 11 nationalities participated in the I Republican Festival of National Cultures, then this year their number has increased to 33. According to the Deputy Minister of Culture, this festival has taken root precisely in Grodno, despite the fact that in the early years the possibility of holding it alternately in various regional centers was discussed. "And yet, we became convinced that it is in Grodno that there is an environment that can most fully realize its ideas. The multinationality of the Grodno population has influenced this," explained Tadeusz Strazhevsky. -0-