Press releases

MOSCOW, 15 September (BelTA) – The 12th edition of the international festival Youth for the Union State opened in Rostov-on-Don on 14 September, BelTA learned from the press service of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Belarus-Russia Union State.

This music forum is held annually at the initiative of the Parliamentary Assembly, with the support of the government, the Legislative Assembly and the committee for youth policy of Russia’s Rostov Oblast.

The opening ceremony was attended by a delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly, First Deputy Governor of Rostov Oblast Igor Guskov, and representatives of local authorities.

“The festival in Rostov-on-Don, whose goal is to promote spiritual and moral development of the youth through arts and creativity, will discover new talents. The festival will also contribute to the preservation and enhancement of the traditions of friendship and trust between our two countries,” Vyacheslav Volodin, the chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly, Chairman of the Russian State Duma, said in his message of greetings read out during the opening ceremony.

The First Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly, Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus, Vladimir Andreichenko, also sent greetings to the participants and guests of the festival. “It is rightly said that the future belongs to the young. But it is as true that the present largely depends on you, your deeds and words, your attitude to what the elder generations consider as their common spiritual, moral and patriotic values of the two peoples. It is these values that unite Belarus and Russia in the face of the modern global challenges, not allowing the external political and economic pressure to destroy our unity,” he said.

The official part of the opening ceremony was followed by a concert of young and well-known singers of Belarus and Russia, including Honored Artist of Belarus Alyona Lanskaya, Golos TV show finalist Alexander Panayotov, Provokatsia band, Belorusskaya Pesnya ensemble, and many others. Among the guests of the festival were the Barvinok folk dance company from Lugansk and soloist of the Donetsk State Academic Music and Drama Theater Aleksei Anosov.

The festival will run through 18 September. Taking part in the forum are about 300 participants from 11 cities of Russia (St Petersburg, Shakhty, Vladikavkaz, Syktyvkar, Kazan, Ulan-Ude, Moscow, Rostov-on-Don, Saratov, Kaliningrad and Orenburg) and also Minsk Oblast, Vitebsk Oblast, Grodno Oblast, Brest Oblast and Gomel Oblast of Belarus.

The program of the festival in Rostov-on-Don and the cities of Rostov Oblast will feature an international competition among young singers. Taking part in the key event of the festival will be 20 young vocalists who came through the national auditions of Belarus and Russia, and also one representative from Kazakhstan and Ukraine each. Concerts will also be held in Novocherkassk and Azov. The forum will also feature a sport marathon and a meeting with the participants of the regional youth forum Rostov 2017. The Area of Success. A gala concert at the Gorky Rostov Academic Drama Theater will wrap up the festival on 18 September.