Press releases

22 Jun 2026

Junior song contest premieres at Slavianski Bazaar in 2003

An archive photo

VITEBSK, 22 June (BelTA) – With just 24 days remaining until the jubilee 35th International Festival of Arts Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk, BelTA invites readers to embark on a retrospective journey. Each day, we look back at the most memorable moments from every previous edition of the festival. Today, we turn to the year of 2003. The 12th International Festival of Arts Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk, which ran from 12 to 17 July, offered new projects, namely the junior song congest and the Union State Day, BelTA reports.

The opening of the Slavianski Bazaar in 2003 took place on the Union State Day, a debut initiative that would later expand and be held over several days. A new award was also instituted: the diploma of the Permanent Committee of the Union State “For the Creative Embodiment of the Ideas of Friendship among the Peoples of Belarus and Russia.” Speaking from the stage of the Summer Amphitheater during the gala concert, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that the festival had proven its resilience over time and that the ideal of Slavic unity continued to draw new friends to this grand cultural gathering.

Slavianski Bazaar received the blessing of Metropolitan of Minsk and Slutsk Filaret, Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus, who called upon the organizers to do everything possible so that the cultural forum might serve the elevation of the spirit, the harmony of man and nature, and the cultivation of virtue.

That year marked the introduction of the Golden Lyre as the top prize of the international song contest. For the first time in the 12 year history of the Slavianski Bazaar, the Grand Prix went to a Belarusian, Maksim Sapatkov.

The tradition of the International Festival of Children’s Creativity was continued by a new project, the junior song contest. The chairman of the jury for this contest was the composer and People’s Artist of Belarus Vasily Rainchik. The Grand Prix went to a performer from Romania, the young singer Noni.

The Belarus Culture Day was filled with tributes to the outstanding Belarusian composer, People’s Artist of the USSR and holder of the Order of Francysk Skaryna, Vladimir Mulyavin. The ensemble Pesnyary, which he founded, was a regular guest of the festival; in 1994, the Summer Amphitheater stage hosted a celebration of the 25th anniversary of this renowned ensemble.

Another debut event was the festival of Slavic poetry. Festival concerts were held in all regional centers and in Minsk.

The 12th edition of the festival drew performers from 24 countries. Nearly 480 media representatives from Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Latvia and Lithuania were accredited for the festival.

The main events of the 35th International Festival of Arts Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk will take place from 16 to 19 July, with the first concerts already scheduled for 14 July.