Vitebsk will be fully ready for the Slavianski Bazaar on July 7
Before the report of all services involved in the forum, Vasily Zharko visited the festival sites and highly appreciated the work done.
The official opening of the XXVII International Festival of Arts will take place on July 12, with the President of Belarus attending. However, the concert program will begin three days earlier. This year, guests from 41 countries will come to us, and 390 journalists from 126 media outlets from different countries, including China and the USA, will be accredited.
For the first time, representatives from Egypt, Guinea, Great Britain, Canada, and Colombia will perform in the song contests. All participants and guests need to be met, accommodated, and fed. This is the responsibility of the city services, which reported on the state of affairs.
Charter flights to Moscow will be organized from Vitebsk airport, a new train connecting Vitebsk with Minsk will appear in the railway station schedule, as well as additional carriages on routes popular during the festival. Regular flights will be organized to the Ilya Repin estate-museum "Zdravnevo". Those wishing can take excursion trips around the city by trolleybus and tram.
Hotels, in anticipation of distinguished guests, have improved the comfort of their rooms, carried out current repairs, and installed air conditioners. In addition to stationary catering facilities, outdoor cafes will operate, and trade rows will stretch for 10 km. As Viktor Nikolaikin assured, prices during the festival days will not increase in hotels, cafes, or for taxi services.
The cultural program promises to be rich, involving not only all the city's concert venues but also streets and courtyards. By the way, on Youth Day, a festival of yard games will be held for the first time.
The leitmotif of many programs, as noted by the Minister of Culture of Belarus, Yuri Bondar, will be the theme of the small homeland and the unity of Slavic peoples. To date, more than 54 thousand tickets have been sold and 25 thousand have been booked. There are people who wish to come to "Slavianski Bazaar" from Japan, Canada, and South Africa; tickets were purchased from these countries via the internet, said the forum director, Alexander Sidorenko.
Many come to Vitebsk not only to attend concerts of their favorite singers but also to immerse themselves in the atmosphere of the festival city. This atmosphere will be created by amateur art groups, craftspeople, street musicians, and artists. Traditionally, the "City of Masters," an exhibition of brands from the Vitebsk region districts, "Zadvinsky Kirmaš," and "Vitebski Vernissage" will be open. Festivals of drum majorettes and majorettes, competitions of brass bands, accordionists and chastushkas singers, potters, a tournament of everyday dances, and much more will take place.
The festival tone will be set by the "Seven Winds" Street Art Fest. A guest of "Slavianski Bazaar" will be its long-time friend – the Lithuanian fair "Kaziukas," which, as always, prepares pleasant surprises.
– All services are ready for the arrival of guests and participants of the forum: catering and accommodation are organized, and security is ensured, – summed up Vasily Zharko, expressing confidence that the celebration will be a success.