Press releases

18 Jul 2019

Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk 2019

The International Festival of Arts Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk 2019 was held on 8-17 July.

The opening ceremony and a gala concert took place in the Summer Amphitheater on 11 July, and the closing ceremony on 15 July. Additional events were held on 8-10 and 16-17 July.

The major events of the festival were the 28th International Song Contest Vitebsk 2019 and the 17th International Children's Song Contest Vitebsk 2019. Belarus was represented at the competitions by winners of the national selections: Kseniya Galetskaya and Ivan Zdonyuk. This year, Vitebsk hosted only the final as more emphasis was put on national selections in more than 20 countries.

Belarusian Kseniya Galetskaya won the Grand Prix and Lira special prize of the Vitebsk Children’s Song Contest at Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk. The first prize was awarded to Anzhela Albertyan from Armenia. The second prize was shared between Ukrainian Artur and Moldova's Anastasia Barba. The third prize was also awarded to two contestants: Georgia’s Annushka and Russia’s Kira Gogoladze.

Kazakhstan’s Adilkhan Makin won the Grand Prix of the 28th edition of the 2019 Vitebsk Song Contest. George Putkaradze from Georgia took the First Prize. Elay from Israel and Belarusian Vanya Zdonyuk shared the Second Prize.

Traditionally, famous guests performed in Vitebsk. This year’s playbill featured People's Artist of Georgia Tamara Gverdtsiteli, who sat on the jury of the Song Contest Vitebsk 2019, special guest of the final gala concert Sofia Rotaru and also Kipelov rock band, Surganova and Orchestra band, Aleksandr Panayotov, Stas Mikhaylov, Valery Leontiev, Nadezhda Kadysheva with the Russian folk group Zolotoye Koltso. The HIT NON STOP concert featured MONATIK, Alina Arts, Maruv, Olga Buzova, ALEKSEEV and Serebro.

The Union State Invites concert took place at the Slavianski Bazaar 2019 to mark Day of Friendship. The event was dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Union State and the 50th anniversary of the music band Pesnyary. The concert featured Petr Elfimov, Anatoly Kasheparov, Troitsa ethno trio, NaviBand, Varvara, Turetsky Soprano group.

During Slavianski Bazaar, the city concert halls and streets turned into a big stage for various popular events: Theater Meetings, Seven Winds street art festival, Puppet Quarter, concerts at the Vitebsk Oblast Philharmonics. The festival also unveiled new activities this year. This year the festival in Vitebsk welcomed Dream Dance Fest, an international dance battle festival. Victory Square turned into art space for a large open-air event. Its program featured concerts by Belarusian bands NaviBand, Bez Bileta, J:Mors. The St. Petersburg state ballet on ice company debuted in Vitebsk this year with the Swan Lake show.