Press releases

Belarus Events Calendar: June 2016

Festival of National Cultures in Grodno

Vintage bicycles exhibition in Minsk

The international project “Whole life in one bicycle”, which was presented for the first time at EXPO 2015 in Milan, invites you to learn more about the history of a bicycle – a unique means of transport and one of the greatest inventions, which has made the life of European urban dwellers and villagers much easier. The visitors to the exhibition will learn many interesting facts about the life and daily routine of representatives of various professions: a priest, a doctor, a fireman, a baker, a milkman, a tailor and a barber, and the role which the bicycle played in their lives. The exclusive collection, with the youngest bike of about 60 years old, belongs to Maurizio Urbinati from Italy. He has been collecting vintage bicycles with an interesting story for the past four last decades.

When: 18 February – February 2017
Where: National History Museum, Minsk
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Talking Machines: History of Sound Recording

The exhibition invites you to travel back in time to the accompaniment of “talking machines” - mechanical record players, gramophones and phonographs – in the interiors of the old manor in Loshitsa. The collection of rarities where the oldest gramophone dates back to 1900 belongs to Igor Borisevich from Minsk. The exhibition features more than 50 record players of the late 19th - early 20th centuries from England, Switzerland, France, Germany and the United States. Many of them were manufactured by the well-known companies: Pathe, Edison Gem Phonograph, His Master’s Voice… All exhibits have been restored and are in a working order: visitors can learn interesting facts from the history of the inventions of Thomas Edison, the Pathe brothers and Emile Berliner and listen to their favorite tunes by playing the old machines.

When: 9 April – 9 July
Where: Loshitsa Park, Minsk

Painter and the City. An exhibition of reproductions by Valentin Gubarev

The Painter and the City project has become famous thanks to reproductions of pictures by the great artists such as Marc Chagall, Kazimir Malevich, and Nikolai Seleshchuk. You are cordially invited to get familiar with the art of an outstanding contemporary, a representative of Belarusian naive art Valentin Gubarev. For two decades his works have been on display in the famous French gallery Les Tournesols while staying largely unknown to the general public in the home country. The open-air exhibition will feature reproductions of 30 pictures that resemble caricatures. The pictures reflect the everyday life of provincial towns and their residents. According to the painter himself, he likes the spirituality of common folks, who build their life according to their own passions and interpretations of beauty

When: 26 May – 9 September
Where: Yakub Kolas Square, Minsk

New Show in Belarusian Circus

The circus show "I am a Magician" invites viewers into a world of mysterious transformations and incredible stunts. The highlight will be the show "Illusion of Modernity" by Evgeny Novoselov, a representative of the famous dynasty, the winner of the Gold Medal of the International Festival of Circus Arts in Korea. The new program features acrobats, aerialists, professional riders, and performing animals: pigeons, cats, dogs, French mastiffs, camels and llamas under the direction of Honored Artist of the Republic of North Ossetia Boris Lazarov. Throughout the presentation the audience will be entertained by the famous clowns Gosha and Shurik performed by Ukraine Honored Artists brothers Konstantin and Oleg Gerasimenko.

When: 20 May – 30 June
Where: Belarusian State Circus, Minsk
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Heritage of Belarus: Restored Architectural Values art project

For several years, Minsk residents and guests have had a chance to learn more about Belarus’ outstanding landmarks, the uniqueness of which is recognized throughout the world. This year, the open-air gallery has brought together over 100 reproductions depicting the architectural heritage, among which are towns halls, manors, palaces and parks, Orthodox and Catholic churches which have been restored over the past decade in different regions of the country. The authors of the art project are well-known photographers, journalists, winners of the Spiritual Revival Award (2005) Alexander Alekseev and Oleg Lukashevich, who released the album "Heritage of Belarus" in 2004. The album sold over 42 million copies from 2004 to 2014 and became a real sales hit in the history of the national book publishing.

When: from 21 May
Where: Chelyuskintsev Park, Minsk

Mysteries and Secrets of the Radziwills Quest

The famous princely residence in Nesvizh invites tourists to take part in a series of interactive quests "Mysteries and Secrets of the Radziwill Palace." Tourists will be offered to take an exciting journey through the magnificent halls, and get acquainted with the history of one of the most influential dynasties of Europe of the 15th – 18th centuries. The participants of the quest will be accompanied by Prince Anatoly Wilhelm who was the first to restore the Nesvizh Palace in the 19th century after decades of desolation. To pass through the levels of the fascinating quest, the participants will have to find answers to tricky questions, solve historic puzzles, and visit the places usually closed for tourists: princely chambers, underground labyrinths, towers and defensive fortifications.

When: 30 May – 27 August
Where: National historical and cultural museum-reserve at Nesvizh, Minsk Oblast

Ivanushki International in Minsk

Russian pop group Ivanushki International founded in 1990 by Igor Matvienko gained popularity thanks to numerous hits.  Over 20 years of creative career the boys band has released 9 studio albums and won dozens of music awards. After a long break the band returns to Minsk with a big concert to perform their best songs.

When: 2 June
Where: Prime Hall, Minsk

Mir Couture exhibition in Mir Castle

An exclusive exhibition of French fashion designer Denis Durand Couture, dubbed as the Cannes Festival trendsetter, will open at Mir Castle, one of the most beautiful landmarks of Belarus, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. In 2013 Belarusian theater and cinema stars walked the red carpet of the 20th International Film Festival Listapad in exquisite gowns from the famous Frenchman. This time the exhibition visitors will see 15 splendid evening and wedding attire, including dresses made from Belarusian handmade fabric. The collection will also include items created in cooperation with famous Minsk dress designer Apti Eziev, and also jewelry and accessories from Belarusian designers: clutches, purses, leather and metal headwear …

When: 3 June – 3 September
Where: Grodno Oblast, Mir village, Mir Castle
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Festival of National Cultures in Grodno

The Festival of National Cultures in Grodno will gather about 800 artists representing 37 nationalities. For the first time the final will feature representatives of Syria, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, the United States, and also Chechnya of the Russian Federation. A stork will be a symbol of the forum, with a seven-color flower named the logo of the festival. This year the large-scale forum will launch a new campaign. Representatives of all ethnicities will light candles from the Belarusian candle, a symbol of unity. The historical center of Grodno will turn into an art scene featuring workshops of portrait painters, photo zones, living statues, a fashion show of national costumes, and also flamenco, capoeira, belly and Belarusian dance classes. The program will include presentations of 15 unusual sports, popular with the nationalities living in Belarus.

When: 4 – 5 June
Where: Grodno
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Festival of Belarusian Songs and Poetry Maladzechna 2016

A well-known festival in Molodechno, Belarus’ Capital of Culture 2016, invites poetry and music amateurs to attend concerts of Belarusian outstanding singers and young talented performers. According to the tradition, the songs of Belarusian composers and poets of different years will be performed at the Summer Amphitheater. The official opening ceremony of the forum will be dedicated to the 75th birthday of People’s Artist of USSR and Belarus Vladimir Mulyavin. The concert, Vladimir Mulyavin's Song Legacy, will feature the best compositions of the founder of the legendary band Pesnyary performed by the National Academic Concert Orchestra under the baton of Mikhail Finberg. The festival will wrap up with a gala concert Belarus – Source of Inspiration featuring Belarusian famous singers.  
  
When: 10 – 11 June
Where: Summer Amphitheater, Molodechno

Jazz Nights at Minsk Town Hall

The international music project that has already become a traditional event for the Belarusian capital will once again gather jazz enthusiasts at the heart of the old part of Minsk. Although established just three years ago, the forum already has a 50,000-strong army of devoted followers. This year’s edition of the festival will treat the audience to amazing surprises and delights. The lineup is kept a secret. It is known that the jazz festival will feature one of the best trombone players in Europe, a thirteen -member Italian jazz orchestra, and a renowned vocalist, winner of the biggest European vocal contest Shure Montreux Jazz Voice Competition who received the prize from US composer, arranger and producer of the world’s best-selling album Quincy Jones.       

When: 11, 18, and 25 June
Where: Svobody Square, Minsk

Ballet Summer at the Bolshoi

The Bolshoi Theater of Belarus invites its devoted friends and arts aficionados to enjoy the best of Belarusian and world’s opera and ballet. The international festival will open with the first night of the ballet Love and Death by Polad Bulbuloglu based on The Book of Dede Korkut, the most famous epic story of the Oghuz Turks which is on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List. The Bolshoi will present an innovative ballet production by choreographer Olga Kostel who has staged an interpretation of philosophical questions about the relations between people and nature, the purpose of life, love and death raised in The Book of Dede Korkut, one of the oldest surviving pieces of literature.

The program of the festival features classical and contemporary performances, premieres by Belarus’ Bolshoi Theater, evenings with legendary choreographers, and productions starring soloists and dancers of the leading ballet companies of the world.  

11 – 12 June – Polad Bulbuloglu’s Love and Death conducted by Ayyub Guliyev, Azerbaijan
13 June – Giselle starring Russian ballet dancer Anastasia Stashkevich
14 June – Premiere of the ballet The Little Prince
15 June – Swan Lake starring Yekaterina Borchenko, Russia
16 June – Night of Contemporary Choreography – The Shadow Dance by Ludwig Minkus and one-act ballets Small Death and Six Dances by Jiri Kylian
17 June – World Ballet Stars Gala

When: 11-17 June
Where: Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theater of Belarus, Minsk

7th International Photo Exhibition 4383 Days of Childhood

Emotional, touching and incredibly sincere… The exposition of the best works of the international photography project 4383 Days of Childhood reopens in Minsk. The organizer is the Belarusian Children Fund. The title of the art marathon dedicated to the International Children's Day is symbolic: 4383 days is 12 years of child’s life full of discoveries and impressions. This year, over 900 works have been submitted for the contest from Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, USA, Netherlands, Thailand, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan. 239 photos by 70 authors made it through to the second round. The final exhibition of the winners 2016 will be organized in the Pobeda cinema house. During the year, the amazing photographs from this collection will be on display in galleries all over the Belarus.

When: 12 June – 3 July, the grand opening – 15 June
Where: Pobeda Cinema House, 20 Internatsionalnaya Street, Minsk

Sun Fest 2016 in Dudutki

The museum of old crafts in Dudutki will celebrate the day of summer solstice with an open air concert Sun Fest that will bring together the greatest performers of folk/folk-rock music from Belarus and abroad. The eventful program of the festival features a knights’ tournament, medieval games and competitions, fencing and archery tournaments. The territory of the museum will be divided into art zones. There will be a craftsman’s town with potters, blacksmiths and coopers, a handicraft fair with workshops by craftsmen, and an ethno area where tourists will learn how to make Kupala flower crowns, a symbol of the Kupala Night folk holiday, weave belts, do fortune telling, and participate in traditional Kupala rites.

When: 18 June
Where: Dudutki, Pukhovichi District, Minsk Oblast

Historic Reconstruction Festival Age of Knighthood

The historic reconstruction festival Age of Knighthood invites you to go on a journey into the age of noble warriors and medieval battles. Knight tournaments will be held as part of the festival as well as horse-riding contests, large-scale battles, competitions of musclemen, tournaments of archers and halberdiers. The recreation of the medieval battle Storming the Bulwarks will be one of the most impressive events. Apart from that, the festival will feature an exhibition of knight armor and arms, a theatrical performance by the Minsk street theater Vir, master classes on combat arts and medieval dancing, an exhibition of handcrafted products and their craftsmen, various amusements, contests, and other kinds of entertainment. A concert of medieval music featuring prominent Belarusian collectives will be the final part of the festival.

When: 18 – 19 June
Where: The Belarusian State Folk Architecture and Daily Life Museum, the village of Ozertso, Minsk District

Miss Belarus 2016 Beauty Contest

The final show of the 1oth national beauty contest will feature 26 girls who were selected from almost a thousand representatives of different regions of the country. They will compete for the Miss Belarus 2016 title and the main prize - the crown of white gold with crystals and amethysts. According to the jury, the main objective of the contest is to choose not just the most beautiful girl of the country but a kind of role model... Before the final show the contestants will have a busy schedule: master classes, fashion shows, photo shoots, interviews ... According to the organizers, the grand gala will be dedicated to the Belarusian culture and traditions, and the finalists will wear national costumes of different epochs, starting from the 10th century...

When: 19 June
Where: Minsk, Palace of Sports

National Folk Art Festival Beraginya 2016

The  festival dedicated to the authentic Belarusian culture and to the traditions of other nations will gather, for the ninth time, folklore companies from Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Poland, Serbia and the Czech Republic. The program will feature dancing and singing competitions, children's folklore groups, concerts by ethno soloists and groups, master classes and lectures on folk songs and dances, and the traditional fests Rudobelskoye Kupala Day Festival and Rudobelskoye Fair. In addition, the program includes musical entertainment and dancing, games, jousting fights involving the Mozyr Knights Club, the handicrafts fair and master classes by local artisans.

Where: 23 – 26 June
Where: town of Oktyabrsky, Gomel Oblast

Bolshoi Theater Evenings in Radziwill Castle

The magnificent open-air festival will gather the Bolshoi Theater’s leading artists and fans of opera and ballet in one of Europe’s most beautiful palace and park complexes – the legendary residence of the Radziwill princes in Nesvizh. This year the festival’s events will take place near the Nesvizh Corpus Christi Church, the Town Hall, the Theater Hall, and the castle’s courtyard. Concerts, evenings with artists and long-awaited premiers will take place there:

24 June
 Ludwig Minkus’ ballet Don Quixote

25 June
 Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s opera Iolanta
 The concert Heart Wants No Rest featuring leading Belarusian opera soloists and the string quintet Serenada

26 June
 The concert Tenors vs Basses featuring leading opera soloists of Belarus’ Bolshoi Theater
 The concert Bolshoi’s Stars in Nesvizh featuring leading opera and ballet soloists of Belarus’ Bolshoi Theater

When: 24 – 26 June
Where: The national historical and cultural museum and reserve Nesvizh, Minsk Oblast

The fourth international retro-motor festival Wheel of Time

One of Eastern Europe’s largest festivals of retro vehicles, it will gather over 200 retro bikers from eleven countries in the Belarusian town of Zaslavl. For the first time as part of the festival the exhibition Retro Custom will be arranged. It will feature handmade motorcycles as well as rare models from private museums, for instance, the scooter and toy museum Preserves of Time (Belarus), the Retro Java Balakhna Museum and the Tula-based motorcycle museum Moto Auto Art (Russia). The festival will feature a magnificent retro motor rally Friends, an amateur fashion demonstration, and the Retro Fashion contest that will involve spectators, who came to the festival in vintage costumes. Winners will be named in the nominations Lady Retro Fashion and Gentleman Retro Fashion. Retro and motor bazaars will be open for fans of antiquities and renovators.

When: 25 June
Where: The Rowing Canal, Zaslavl, Minsk Oblast

Kupala Wheel Music Festival

Last year the international music festival dedicated to the Kupala Day holiday was held in the format of a two-day open air with ethno- conference and live music in the museum of old crafts in Dudutki. It brought together more than 5,000 visitors from Belarus and CIS countries.  Participants of the festival Kupala Wheel 2016 will be welcomed in the new location, in the rural compound Komarovo, and will enjoy the atmosphere of legends and tales of the mysterious summer holiday which has intertwined the Christian and Pagan traditions of the Belarusian ancestors. The program wil feature the large-scale reconstruction of Ivan Kupala festivities and rites inclduing fortune-telling, making wreaths and launching them on the water, Kupala bonfires, moto-Kupala Day and the first night electronic folk-disco.

When: 25 – 26 June
Where: Komarovo, Urozhainaya village,  Minsk District

Vivat Opera Moderne concert in Minsk

Stars of the Belarusian Opera - Honored Artists of the Republic of Belarus Oksana Volkova, Vladimir Gromov and Yelena Shvedova, the finalist of the popular project Big Opera baritone Ilya Silchukov and prizewinner of the 2008 Queen Elisabeth International Vocal Competition in Brussels Yuri Gorodetski invite connoisseurs of classical music for the concert Vivat Opera Moderne. The leading soloists of the Bolshoi Theater of Belarus will perform famous arias accompanied by the President’s Orchestra of the Republic of Belarus under the baton of Viktor Babarikin. The emcee of the musical night will be Oleg Oistrakh, an art critic, musician, author of the Golden Section program on the Kultura radio.

When: 29 June
Where: Big Hall, Palace of the Republic, Minsk