MINSK, 2 July (BelTA) - Respect for the cultural heritage strengthens the sovereignty of the country, Belarus’ Culture Minister Yuri Bondar said during the official launch of the Vyshyvanka Day event held on 2 July to celebrate the Belarusian traditional costume vyshyvanka, BelTA has learned.
Yuri Bondar said that the youth event Vyshyvanka Day is gaining popularity. “Respect for the cultural traditions is part of the Belarusian identity. We carefully maintain the cultural heritage we inherited from our ancestors: folk songs, dances, rites, applied art as it contributes to our understanding of the history, national identity and also to the state sovereignty," he said.
First Secretary of the Central Committee of the BRSM Youth Union Dmitry Voronyuk, for his part, stressed that the ornament pictured on the Belarusian flag is the thread connecting all generations. He added that today young people love to don clothes featuring the elements of national ornaments. “Participation in such events really unites us all and draw us closer to our roots, national traditions, spiritual culture of Belarus. Maintaining traditions is the basis of the ideology of the state. The most important thing is to appreciate them and to be together,” he said.
The Vyshyvanka Day celebrations unfolded in front of the Palace of Sports. The Belarusky Kirmash fair brought together dozens of sites: a food court offering the Belarusian cuisine dishes, a photography shop, a literary soiree room an exhibition of agro-estates, an arts and crafts fair and many others.
Blacksmiths from Vitebsk invited visitors to a workshop of traditional hand forging. Other master-classes featured pottery, woodcarving, straw weaving, and clay figurine making.
The program of activities included the Wreath of Beauty fashion show from designers working in an ethno style.
The event also featured concerts of folk and rock groups, the Disco-Folk Vyshyvanka.by and the Open Air Cinema project.