Press releases

29 Jun 2026

Toto Cutugno’s Belarusian song, organ premieres: 19th Slavianski Bazaar revisited

Toto Cutugno. An archive photo

VITEBSK, 29 June (BelTA) - There are just 17 days left until the 35th International Festival of Arts Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk. BELTA invites you to take a look back: every day we explore archival materials to highlight the most memorable moments of each festival, year by year. Let’s reminisce about the 2010 festival.

The 19th International Festival of Arts Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk ran from 9 to 16 July 2010 drawing around 5,000 guests from 34 countries. For the first time, it welcomed representatives from Montenegro, Panama, and Cuba.

At the festival’s official opening ceremony, Belarusian President, Chairman of the Supreme State Council of the Union State Aleksandr Lukashenko presented the Union State Literature and Arts Awards 2009-2010 to Russian architect Yuri Grigoriev, Belarusian artist Lev Gumilevsky and his son Sergei Gumilevsky (also an artist), Russian sculptor Yuri Orekhov, and Belarusian artist Leonid Shchemelev.

The special award of the President of the Republic of Belarus Through Art to Peace and Mutual Understanding was presented to People's Artist of the USSR Vladimir Mulyavin and the legendary Belarusian band Pesnyary. His name and the band’s title were immortalized on the Walk of Fame in Vitebsk. A three-hour concert featuring Belarusian artists was also dedicated to Vladimir Mulyavin in the Summer Amphitheatre.

People's Artist of Russia Yuri Antonov was awarded the Francysk Skaryna Order for services to strengthening friendly ties.

The gala concert featured performers and bands from nine countries. In the finale, they took the stage together with Yuri Antonov. The audience joined the artists in singing Under the Roof of Your Home while fireworks lit up the sky.

The festival’s main stage hosted 19 concerts, which were attended by approximately 110,000 people.

The concert program Two Sisters - Belarus and Russia dedicated to Union State Day, featured works by Kim Breitburg. In 2010, the composer, musician, and producer turned 55. This was the only instance in the festival’s history when two concerts shared the same title. The first took place in 2006 and was dedicated to the tenth anniversary of the Day of Unity of the Peoples of Belarus and Russia. The name was inspired by a song written by Kim Breitburg. The concert featured premieres of new songs, including "Holidays," performed by Anatoly Yarmolenko and the band Syabry.

The gala concert of Russian artists featured People's Artist of Russia Dmitri Hvorostovsky, accompanied by the Presidential Orchestra of Belarus.

The solo concert by People's Artist of Russia Yuri Antonov drew particular acclaim. He performed his hits from the 1970s and 1980s and was called back for encores multiple times. The audience thanked the composer and singer for his wonderful songs and congratulated him on his 65th birthday. “I hadn’t been to the Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk for 12 years, but I kept wonderful memories of the festival, which has a special warmth to it. This time I caught that wave of love from the audience again. I think my old songs are still popular because they have melody and soul. They weren’t constructed in a studio but were written at the piano. They're a natural product,” Yuri Antonov said in an interview.

The Summer Amphitheatre stage also hosted a concert by the talented composer and performer Toto Cutugno. A surprise for the audience was the well-known song A Ya Lyagu, Prylyagu which the Italian singer diligently performed in Belarusian.

People's Artist of the Russian Federation Stas Mikhailov presented his program “New and Best”. Tickets for his concert sold out within three days.

At the 19th festival, 19 young talents from 19 countries took part in the International Pop Song Contest Vitebsk 2010. The Grand Prix went to a performer from Croatia. The International Children's Song Contest featured 22 participants from 19 countries, with the top prize awarded to a young artist from Romania.

For the first time, festival concerts were held on Victory Square, where a special stage of 280 square meters was erected. Each concert drew around 15,000 spectators. At one of them, Russian singer Dima Bilan performed a solo program. During the festival's closing ceremony, he sang together with the Vitebsk Children's Choir.

The Theater Encounters 2010 program featured six productions, including a solo evening by People's Artist of Russia Svetlana Kryuchkova.

Around 900 artisans and artists displayed their work in the City of Crafts fair. The straw weaving competition Paparats-kvetka was held for the third time, with 60 craftspeople from various regions of Belarus taking part.

The Dvina Center of Folk Crafts and Arts hosted a folk show featuring popular Irish dancing and live folk music titled Irish Fest.

The festival traditionally hosted Star Hour press conferences, with guests including Yuri Antonov, Vera Glagoleva, Taisia Povaliy, Igor Kornelyuk, and others. In an interview with journalists, Honored Artist of Russia Igor Kornelyuk said: “What struck me most was the scale of the festival. Its organizers, if not gods, then at least the deputies of God in charge of festival affairs. How does a small city like Vitebsk handle such a powerful artistic ‘onslaught’? It's fantastic! The organizers deserve monuments made of gold.”

For the first time at the festival, organ music was performed. The concert took place at the Vitebsk Regional Philharmonic.

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