News & Events in Belarus

MOGILEV, 7 July (BelTA) – The Kupala Night Festival in Alexandria (Alexandria Gathers Friends) will take place in the agro-town of Alexandria on the bank of the Dnieper River on 7-8 July, BelTA has learned.

The festival will be themed around the Year of Native Land.

Alexander Lukashenko will traditionally attend the event, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian leader.

The festival is designed to show the evolution of Kupala Night traditions in time and space and to promote cultural contacts between nations. The geography of the festival is expanding year to year. This year the festival will feature over 1,500 artists from Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland and other countries. Delegations from these countries will showcase their traditional music, dances, arts and crafts.

The festival will be based around a number of venues and activities, including themed venues, like Made in Belarus that will display products of Minsk Tractor Works, the Publisher’s Yard book fair showcasing new editions of Belarusian publishing houses, the Sweet Tooth venue that will offer confectionery and pastry products.

For souvenirs one should visit the Town of Crafts venue. This venue will also be used for master classes in traditional arts and crafts.

The Kupala Night Festival will offer an opportunity for Belarusian regions and foreign countries to showcase their local festivals and traditions. Music and crafts of the participating states will be presented along theme-specific streets. A separate street will be earmarked for a themed exposition and presentation of local festivals and signature events of Mogilev Oblast. The Kupala Night Wonders exhibition and fair will nestle along the Dnieper River.

Next to the theme-specific streets will be the Youth Venue where a rural tourism exhibition titled “Enjoy the Countryside” will have its debut. The regional phase of the nationwide project Lord of the Village, a festival of colors, presentation of Mogilev as Belarus’ youth capital 2018 will take place here, too. The Big Bard Music & Fishing Festival will feature well-known Belarusian, Russian and Ukrainian bards.

New thematic venues will be arranged this year. One of them is Fair Fun that will feature pop-up stores, amusement rides, an active leisure area, and a place for archery, badminton, biathlon, gymnastics, athletics, horse riding and other sports.

A contest for the best Kupala Night outfit will be held.

A big concert program featuring popular artists from Ukraine will be one of the biggest draws of the Kupala Night Festival this year. On 7 July visitors to the festival will have a chance to get familiar with Ukraine’s traditional arts and crafts. The next day, 8 July, will see an exhibition performance of an equestrian theater and a big concert starring the National Honored Academic Dance Ensemble named after Pavlo Virsky, People's Artist of Ukraine Ivo Bobul, Honored Artist of Ukraine Lenara Osmanova, Zlata Ohnevych, Tina Karol, Oleg Vinnik, LUIKU band, and Hetman Quartet.

Concerts will take place on the main venue, the small concert hall, and the Youth Venue for two days.

The 2^nd European Games will be presented on the small concert venue at 18:00 on 7 July. The opening ceremony will take place on the same day.

The main venue has been renovated and expanded, with its seating capacity increased up to 3,500. The main venue will host the Native Land performance starring popular artists from Belarus and abroad, including Sergei Trophimov (Russia), Blue Bird band, Nikolai Gnatyuk and Taisia Povaliy of Ukraine, Victoria Kokhana and many more. The festival will culminate in fireworks and a disco.

About 80 vendors will offer a broad assortment of food and non-food products, including souvenirs and hand-made goods. There will be 139 pop-up stores and temporary food stands and 3,000 seats.

Schedules of railway and automobile transport will be adjusted to make it more convenient for visitors to reach the festival venue. 18 additional trains and buses will be available during the festival.

Those arriving by car will be able to park their vehicles nearby and go the rest of the way to Alexandria by bus. These buses will be suitable for people with special needs.

The schedules are available on the website of the Mogilev Oblast Executive Committee (mogilev-region.gov.by) under the banner Kupala Night Festival in Alexandria (Alexandria Gathers Friends).

The festival is organized by the Culture Ministry of Belarus, Mogilev Oblast Executive Committee and the Shklov District Executive Committee.