Belarus Events Calendar

SEPTEMBER 2025

Premiere of Black Castle movie based on Vladimir Korotkevich’s novel

The Black Castle is a modern adaptation of Vladimir Korotkevich's historical detective novel ‘The Black Castle of Olshany’. Forty years have passed since its first screen adaptation: a film of the same name by director Mikhail Ptashuk was premiered in 1984. This time, screenwriter Gleb Shprigov and director Kirill Kuzin took on the task of reinterpreting the novel. Even before the official premiere in Minsk, The Black Castle won the Special Jury Prize of the Feature Film Competition and the Special Prize “Cinema without Borders” of the CIS Executive Committee at the Minsk International Film Festival Listapad 2024. According to the plot of the historical drama, young professor Anton Kosmich (Evgeny Shvarts) finds himself in trouble after an ancient gospel belonging to the Olshany family finds its way into his antique store. To save himself and unravel the secrets of the past, he goes to Olshany... The screen adaptation of one of the most famous works of Belarusian literature was attended by Anastasia Krasovskaya, Evgeny Stychkin, Evgeny Shvarts and Vitaly Kishchenko.

When: 12 December 2024 - 2 December 2025
Where: cinemas in Belarusian cities

Exhibition project to celebrate Victory Day in the National Library of Belarus

The exhibition project dedicated to the 80^th anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War displays exhibits from 14 museums of the country. It presents the history in reverse chronological order: from the Victory Parade to the beginning of the war. The exhibition presents items of trench art, personal belongings, homemade weapons of partisans, effects of prisoners of concentration camps, homemade books and diaries, medals, archive documents, articles and essays about the exploits on the battlefields. The most striking exhibits include the original entrance ticket to the 1945 Victory Parade, photographs of soldiers near the Reichstag and the Brandenburg Gate...

When: 27 February - 21 September
Where: National Library of Belarus, 116 Nezavisimosti Avenue, Minsk.

Exhibition about space at National Center for Contemporary Art

The exhibition dedicated to the International Cosmonautics Day and the space flight of Marina Vasilevskaya (the first one in the history of the sovereign Belarus) is a continuation of the international project “100 Smiles of Gagarin. A Smile for the World” created for the 90th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin. The exposition presents several hundred photographs from 30 countries and works by Belarusian artists themed around space. Among the authors are Galina Vasilieva, Aleksandr Zabavchik, Sergei Krishtapovich, Anatoly Kuznetsov, Leonid Khobotov...

When: 12 April - 21 September
Where: National Center for Contemporary Art, 3 Nekrasova Street, Minsk.

Exhibition celebrating People's Artist of Belarus and USSR Stefaniya Stanyuta

The exhibition dedicated to the 120th anniversary of the People's Artist of Belarus and the USSR Stefaniya Stanyuta explores her life and artistic career. The exhibition features photos, texts of roles, manuscripts, drawings, correspondence with the family and friends, critics' and admirers' reviews, documents. Visitors to the museum can see photos of the outstanding artist with her son Aleksandr, a writer, who dedicated a book to her, the documents related to the Second Belarusian Drama Theater in Vitebsk where many Belarusian artists started their careers after training with the great masters in Moscow in the 1920s. Hsving completed the training in the studio of the Moscow Art Theater in 1931, Stefaniya Stanyuta joined the First Drama Theater (now – Kupalovsky theater) where she served for 70 years, starring in about 200 roles and becoming a true legend!

When: from 13 May 2025
Where: Belarusian State Archives Museum of Literature and Art, 4 Cyril and Methodius Street, Minsk

Summer music and tourism season in Minsk

The summer music and tourism season kicked off on 24 May spanning the Upper Town, Trinity Suburb and Rakov Suburb, the historical center of Minsk, and will last until September. The events of the coming months will be build around the theme “We are united by the blessed memory” to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory. The much-loved Classics at the Town Hall project will feature the pieces by the great composers who have earned a place in the musical culture Hall of Fame. Classical music enthusiasts can look forward to two special events this August: Familiar Melodies, a nostalgic concert by the Iosif Zhinovich Belarusian National Academic Folk Orchestra on 2 August and Musicians Joke concert by the Tatyana Starchenko Music Lounge on 9 August.

The Belarusians of the World music project will feature two August performances: Concerts by the Belarusian State Chamber Orchestra and the Mikhail Finberg National Academic Concert Orchestra on 16 and 23 August. A special crossover series "Classic Meets Rock" will present the joint performances by the Academic Song and Dance Ensemble of the Belarusian Armed Forces and the Belarusian TV and Radio Symphony Orchestra on 30 August and 6 September. The summer music season in the Upper Town will culminate with the Music of Our Beloved City program performed by the Presidential Orchestra of Belarus on 13 September.

When: 24 May - 13 September
Where: historical downtown of Minsk, Town Hall

ARS MAGNA ORGANI 2025 festival

The ARS MAGNA ORGANI 2025 festival [The Great Art of Organ] is held for the fifth time. The new season will feature 68 concerts to be performed on five historical organs of Belarus, one modern and one electric organ. The first concert and the grand opening took place in the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Pinsk, the place of celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the Pinsk Diocese. Here you can hear the second most historically significant organ in Belarus that has been recently renovated. Every week for the next three months the best musicians from Belarus, Russia, and Hungary will perform concerts in Catholic churches of Brest Oblast and Grodno Oblast.

When: 25 May - 28 September
Where: Pinsk, Medvedichi, Ruzhany, Logishin, Ivanovo, Novogrudok, Ivye

Belarusian circus on regional tour

The Belarusian Circus kicked-started the summer season with the new program "BRAVO, Circus!" in Grodno. It will travel around the cities of the western regions of the country. The show will feature equilibrists, acrobats on a trampoline, a strongman who can lift weights with his teeth and bend nails, a gymnast with hula hoops and, of course, clowns!

Where, when:
Brest: 21 June – 20 July
Pinsk: 26 July –10 August
Baranovichi: 16 – 24 August
Lida: 30 August –7 September

Cultural and tourist project in Lida

Every weekend Lida hosts the Castle Road cultural and tourist project. The venue is the pedestrian street Zamkovaya and the courtyard of Lida Castle in Lida.  Every weekend of the summer season 2025 the town will hold festivals, concerts, exhibitions, craft fairs, children's programs. The cultural and tourist project kicked off with a large-scale festival of fire and light in early June. A lot of interesting things are ahead!

When: Every Saturday and Sunday from 10.00 to 19.00
Where: Lida Castle, 1 Zamkovaya Street, Lida

Excursions in Minsk's Upper Town

Residents and visitors of Minsk are invited to free walking tours of the Upper Town as part of the Cultural Traditions of the Capital City project. The themes change weekly and cover different periods from ancient times to the events of the Great Patriotic War and modern days. Some tours, such as History of the Upper Town Through the Prism of Time, include visits to the cellars of the former Holy Spirit Church. The tours are led by professional guides from the Minsk City History Museum. The tour group is 30 people; advance registration is not required.

2 August, 13 September – Path of Victory Through the Streets of Minsk
9 August – Heritage of the Old Town: Cyril and Methodius Street and Herzen Street
16 and 30 August – History of the Upper Town Through the Prism of Time
23 August, 6 September – Heritage of the Old Town: Svobody Square and Rakovskaya Street

When: Every Saturday in August and September at 13.00
Where: Meeting point at the main entrance of the Minsk Town Hall, 2a Svobody Square, Minsk

Ceramics exhibition in Bobruisk

Bobruisk played host to the 19th installment of Art-Zhyzhal, an international plein air in ceramics, a signature event of the city and a professional platform for ceramic art. This open-air creative workshop themed around Culture and Art in Images and Symbols brought together 21 ceramic artists from five countries: Belarus, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Moldova, and Russia. For three weeks, the artists worked on their art pieces, participated in furnace preparation and daily firings. The resulting exhibition The Art of Living Fire showcases the pieces created during the 2025 plein air event dedicated to national history, traditions, and events of their respective countries. It is expected that after Bobruisk, the exhibition will travel to Minsk and Mogilev.

When: 29 July – end of September
Where: Bobruisk Art Museum, 20 Gorkogo Street, Bobruisk; Minsk, Mogilev

Summer. Heat exhibition at National Art Museum of Belarus

What is the Belarusian summer and how do Belarusian authors see it? An exhibition dedicated to the hottest and most abundant season of the year will showcase the most vibrant works themed around summer and sun from the largest national art collection – ranging from Soviet classics to contemporary abstract art. The exhibition reflects on how sunlight can serve as a medium of visual art and explores the very essence of the sun itself. Through socialist realist classics, dreamy dawns and sunsets, impressionistic sunlit grass by Yevgeny Zaitsev, Vitaly Tsvirko, and Vladimir Stelmashonak, and the generalized song-like lyrical compositions of Oleg Skovorodko and Nikolai Kazakevich, visitors will uncover the theme of sun and summer in all its multifaceted diversity.

When: 7 August – 21 September
Where: National Art Museum, 24 Karl Marx Street, Minsk

Maiden of Orleans to open new season at Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus

The 92^nd season at the Bolshoi Theatre will open with Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece The Maid of Orleans. It was premiered in June and marked the launch of the theatre’s Year of Tchaikovsky. The opera depicting the life journey of Joan of Arc - her faith, struggle, and tragic demise - is one of the rarest works performed on the world stage. Tchaikovsky’s Joan demands a soprano that combines lyrical tenderness with heroic force - a rarity even among world-class singers. The director of the first-ever production of The Maid of Orleans in the history of the Belarusian Bolshoi Theatre is Georgy Isaakyan, People’s Artist of Russia; with sets designed by Alexey Tregubov. According to the director, one of the goals was to “reconstruct the sensation experienced 150 years ago when audiences saw and heard the opera for the first time, and to inspire viewers to think and feel.”

When: 4 and 5 September
Where: Bolshoi Theater of Belarus, 1 Parizhskaya Kommuna Square, Minsk

Autumn Saloon 2025 in Minsk

The Autumn Saloon with Belgazprombank will feature works by 260 young Belarusian artists selected by a professional jury from over a thousand participants in the new season. The organizers are already calling it a record-breaking event in terms of the number of applications received over the entire ten-year history of the exhibition-sale. Participants in this large-scale project are contemporary artists aged 18 to 40, showcasing works created within the last three years in any technique and form of visual art. Guests can purchase the artworks, over 90% of which are available on the online platform Artcenter.by, where additional information about each piece can be accessed by scanning the QR code.

Where: 5 September -19 October
Where: Art Palace, 3 Kozlova Street, Minsk

Belaya Vezha 2025

The International Theater Festival Belaya Vezha [White Tower] 2025 will bring together companies from six countries: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. The September playbill will feature 32 performances in five languages. The central theme of the festival is the 80^th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, with a special focus on performances honoring the immortal feat of the people who preserved their independence at the cost of unimaginable suffering. The 2025 festival will open with the documentary drama Bitter Bread by the Gorky National Academic Drama Theater (Minsk), directed by Sergei Kovalchik, Honored Artist of the Republic of Belarus. The closing performance will be a noir adaptation of Alexander Pushkin’s The Captain’s Daughter, staged by the Severodvinsk Drama Theater.

Where: 5-12 September
Where: Brest Academic Drama Theater, Brest Puppet Theater, Brest regional community center

Belarusian Written Language Day in Lida

The Belarusian Written Language Day will be held for the first time in Lida, a city with a rich and ancient history. This year’s event is dedicated to several significant milestones: the 80^th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, the 500^th anniversary of Francysk Skaryna’s Apostol (the first printed book in the Belarusian language), and jubilees of outstanding figures of national literature. On the first day, 6 September, the festival will run a ceremony of honoring the winners of the National Literary Awards and Lida Readings. Traditionally, the Books and Press Festival will unfold along the city’s main streets, where guests can explore the latest releases from the Belarusian publishers. The program also includes interactive zones organized by the Belarusian BRSM Youth Union, the Belarusian Women’s Union, libraries, and media outlets of Grodno Oblast and sports and children’s areas, and a tour of the landmarks of the city and the district.

Where: 6-7 September
Where: Lida, Grodno Oblast

Minsk Half Marathon 2025

The Minsk Half Marathon is held on the eve of Minsk City Day and is the largest sporting event in Belarus, bringing together both professional athletes and amateurs. This year, the 10^th edition of the sports festival will bring together guests from 11 countries. Participants will have to choose one of three distances – 5km, 10.5km and 21km. The program will also be complemented by a corporate relay (3x5km + 6,097m) and a family race, in which young participants under 12 will overcome a distance of 1.5km with their parents.

When: 7 September
Where: Dinamo National Olympic Stadium, 8 Kirova Street, Minsk
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Cinema Music Live project in Minsk: Sherlock Jr. movie

In its new season, the interactive project Cinema Music Live is presenting Buster Keaton’s classic 1924 silent comedy, Sherlock Jr. The movie will be brought to life by the State Chamber Orchestra under the baton of its chief conductor Yevgeny Bushkov. The story follows a lovelorn projectionist who dreams of becoming a detective. When his rival steals a watch from his sweetheart’s house to pawn it for a huge box of sweets, he sets out to solve the case. The musical score was created by composer Stephen Prutsman, who previously contributed to Keaton’s films Seven Chances (1925) and College (1927).

When: 10 September
Where: Tsentralny Cinema, 13 Nezavisimosti Avenue, Minsk

Minsk turns 958! The Belarusian capital celebrates City Day

On the second Saturday of September, the Belarusian capital, Minsk, will celebrate the 958^th anniversary since it was first mentioned in chronicles. The festivities will begin with a flower-laying ceremony at the Minsk Hero City obelisk and then move to the area near the Palace of Sports. An Olympic Day event will feature over 30 interactive zones, sports workshops, an intellectual quiz, and various competitions where winners will receive well-deserved prizes.

A total of over 20 thematic zones will be set up across the city. The historical reenactment festival called as Minsk Starazhytny (Ancient Minsk) will take place on Pobeditelei Avenue and Masherov Avenue, featuring more than 500 reenactors from Belarus, Russia, and China.

In the evening, the Upper Town will host the Minsk Citizen of the Year ceremony at 18.00 to honor the people for the services to the Belarusian capital.

A youth concert program featuring cover bands, artists, and a headliner (whose name is still kept secret) will take place near the Palace of Sports. The festivities will culminate with a grand display of fireworks at 23.00.

When: 13 September
Where: Minsk, cultural, sports, and entertainment venues throughout the city

Mobility Week 2025

Mobility Week in Minsk, held from 16 to 22 September, is dedicated to raising awareness of the negative environmental and health impacts of motor vehicle emissions and promoting sustainable alternatives such as electric transport. The week includes a series of engaging events, starting with the Bike to Work! campaign on the morning of 20 September. The highlight of the week is World Car Free Day on 22 September, when drivers in Minsk can use public transport and the metro free of charge by presenting their driver’s license and vehicle registration certificate. The celebrations will extend to Hugo Chavez Park, where visitors will be able to explore an exhibition of electric transport and even test ride e-scooters and unicycles. Workshops on figure riding bicycles will be available, and attendees will have the opportunity to purchase eco-friendly products. Educational initiatives such as Green Schools, Green Classes of the Belarusian Capital, and Ecodar will also be featured. The week will conclude with a spectacular evening race on illuminated eco-friendly transport along Kazimirovskaya Street, Kamennogorskaya Street, Nalibokskaya Street, and Kolesnikova Street, beginning at 20:00.

When:16-22 September
Where: Minsk and other cities of Belarus

National Architecture Festival in Minsk

This year’s edition of the National Architecture Festival will celebrate the 90^th anniversary of the Belarusian Union of Architects, which is the country’s oldest creative association. The centerpiece of the festival will be the Minsk International Biennale of Young Architects, also known as Leonardo. This unique international competition, held biennially, invites architects under the age of 40 to participate. Entries are evaluated in two categories: Construction and Project, each featuring six distinct nominations, and are judged by a respected international jury. The festival program will also include solo exhibitions, architectural collaborations with other artistic disciplines, and contests focused on enhancing the aesthetics of everyday living spaces.

When: 17 September – 25 October
Where: National House of Architects, 14 Karl Marx Street, Minsk

Tchaikovsky’s Legacy Celebrations in Brest

This year marks the 185^th anniversary of the birth of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, the renowned Russian composer who dedicated his life to serving music and humanity through his expressive and profoundly moving works. In celebration of this milestone, the Brest Regional Philharmonic will host a special thematic evening this September, offering a captivating start to the new concert season titled “Is It Day or Night?” starring internationally acclaimed artists, including soprano Lyudmila Karpuk and pianists Aleksandr Polyakov and Yulia Arkhangelskaya. The program will feature an exquisite selection of Tchaikovsky’s piano masterpieces and vocal romances, highlighting the composer’s ability to convey deep emotion and dramatic nuance through both instrumental and lyrical forms.

When: 20 September, 17:00
Where: Brest Regional Philharmonic, 14 Ordzhonikidze Street, Brest

Cranes and Cranberries of Miory Krai Festival

Autumn in the famous Yelnya Reserve, one of Europe’s largest raised bogs, brings two spectacular wonders: the country’s most abundant cranberry harvests and the breathtaking sight of over 4,000 gray cranes gathering during their autumn migration. This natural spectacle is celebrated at the Cranes and Cranberries of Miory Krai Festival held annually. It invites thousands of visitors to breathe the pristine bog air and immerse themselves in local traditions. Visitors will be able to observe the magnificent crane flocks, explore the crafts of the northern region, and sample vitamin-rich delicacies like cranberry juice and sweets. The highlight of the festival is the competition for the best local estate, and the crowning of the Miory Cranberry queen.

When: 20 September
Where: Yelnya Landscape Reserve, Vitebsk Oblast

Bagach harvest festival in Viazynka

The day of the autumn equinox was marked by our ancestors with the Bagach rite. According to tradition, each family member brought a handful of rye threshed from the first sheaf of the Zazhynki harvest festival. The rye was placed into a common wooden box, which was kept in one of the village houses throughout the year. It was there that a priest conducted a prayer service “For a new harvest and God's generosity to people”. Then, the locals would walk around the village and their livestock with the box, in the center of which a lit candle was inserted into the grain. According to beliefs, the ritual was meant to protect against misfortune, illness, calamity, evil spirits, and malevolent forces. After the procession, they went to the house where the box of rye was to be stored for the entire coming year. It was believed that Bagach would bring the homeowner health, wellbeing, and prosperity.

When: 20 September
Where: Yanka Kupala House Museum in Vyazynka, Molodechno District, Minsk Oblast

28th International Animation Films Festival Animayovka 2025

The International Animation Films Festival Animayovka, with a history spanning over 25 years, invites visitors to enjoy an atmosphere of childhood and creativity. Each year, the forum expands in its scale. For example, in 2024, the event featured 317 films from 47 countries! The 2025 program includes competitions for animation films, children's animated creativity, children's visual arts, and decorative-applied arts. Additionally, since last year, a new category, Best Animation Series, has been added to the animation film competition. the forum will also feature screenings of competition and festival animation film programs, award-winning films from previous years, creative meetings, and workshops.

When: 24-26 September
Where: Mogilev

9th International Festival “In Shemetovo at the Shostakoviches” in Minsk

The classical music festival “In Shemetovo at the Shostakoviches”, held since 2016, celebrates the outstanding 20^th-century classical composer Dmitri Shostakovich. The ancestors of the musical genius, up to his great-grandfather Pyotr Shostakovich, lived near the settlement of Shemetovo in Myadel District, Minsk Oblast. The festival will feature a concert titled “From Renaissance to Baroque” in Minsk to mark the 500th birthday of the Italian Renaissance composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. Works by Bach, Handel, Cimarosa, and Mozart will be performed by the Sonorus Musical Chapel under the baton of Vyacheslav Larin. The evening's soloists will be Jérôme Guichard (oboe, France) and Maria Gladikova (soprano).

When: 28 September
Where: Belarusian State Philharmonic Society, Grigory Shirma Small Hall, 50 Nezavisimosti Avenue, Minsk

100 Years of Fashion. 1860–1960 exhibition in Brest

A century in the history of world fashion - from the 1860s to the 1960s - captured in garments, accessories, jewelry, footwear, and even perfumery, is on show in an exhibition based on Tatiana Fedosova’s private collection “Beauty and Fashion of the 19^th–21^st Centuries”. Visitors will trace how the female silhouette evolved over a century; how the multi-layered, voluminous dress with a crinoline, popularized by Charles Worth in the mid-19th century, transformed into the miniskirt created by the rebel Mary Quant in the 1960s. Among the unique exhibits are a red ball gown from the 1860s (the oldest dress in the collection), a dress belonging to 1930s Hollywood screen star Kay Francis, and a dress from the wardrobe of the Pratt family from the 1920s; a green 1950s dress by the renowned designer of Russian origin Oleg Cassini, and one of the latest additions to the collection - a 19^th-century tiara made of black ‘French glass”; exquisite beaded dresses from 1905–1915 and striking brocade gowns from the 1960s…

When: Until 29 September
Where: Museum of Rescued Art Treasures, 39 Lenina Street, Brest

Season Opening: Chamber Orchestra of Belarus at Belarusian State Philharmonic Society

The Belarusian State Philharmonic Society will open its 58^th season to the accompaniment of the State Chamber Orchestra of the Republic of Belarus under the baton of Honored Artist of the Russian Federation Yevgeny Bushkov. The concert will feature world-renowned Armenian musician Haik Kazazyan, winner of the Grand Prix at the international violin competition Classic Violin Olympus in Dubai. The program includes Johann Sebastian Bach’s Concerto in A Minor for Violin and Orchestra, marking the 340^th birthday of the German composer; Benjamin Britten’s Simple Symphony; and the Divertimento for Violin and Orchestra from Igor Stravinsky’s ballet The Fairy’s Kiss. To conclude the evening, Haik Kazazyan will delight the audience with several miniatures by Fritz Kreisler, whose 150^th birthday is marked this year.

When: 30 September
Where: Belarusian State Philharmonic Society, Grigory Shirma Small Hall, 50 Nezavisimosti Avenue, Minsk