The festival 'Orsha – Cradle of Belarusian Flax' was held in Orsha

Fashion show, costume parade, fireworks – the festival "Orsha – the cradle of Belarusian flax" was held for the first time in the city on three rivers. It was timed to coincide with the celebration of Light Industry Workers' Day.

Before gathering at the main venue of the flax celebration – near the Jesuit collegium – creative and labor collectives of the region marched in a costumed procession along the central street of the district center. Orsha Flax Mill, ZAO OPTF "Svitank", SP "Dynamo Program Orsha", Orsha Factory of Artistic Products, UP "Nit", "Institute of Flax" of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, OAO "Orekhovsky Flax Mill" – the best employees of these enterprises were awarded deserved awards on the central stage of the city.

It is noteworthy that the Orsha region is the only region in the oblast with its own flax growing institute. And the Orsha Flax Mill is the only enterprise in Belarus and the largest in the CIS and European countries for the production of linen fabrics. It is the largest supplier of products to the Russian market and to 30 other countries, ranking 1st in the EU in terms of flax production volume. That is why Orsha can rightfully be called the flax capital and the cradle of Belarusian flax.

The festival organizers pleased visitors not only with a concert program but also with exhibitions of agricultural machinery, flax products, craft and trade rows. The highlight of the holiday

became a fashionable catwalk – a show of linen clothing collections by students of the Orsha Lyceum of Textile Workers and Gymnasium No. 1. The final note was a festive fireworks display.

OLGA LEBEDEVA, "Vitebskiye Vesti", photo by Sergey SLEPTSOV.