The XIII Republican Festival of National Cultures will be held in Grodno on June 3-4

Festivals of national cultures are a symbol of peace and interethnic friendship on Belarusian soil, the unity of nations and peoples, their spiritual wealth and creative potential. This is

Due to the unfavorable epidemiological situation, the XIII Republican Festival of National Cultures opened only four years after the previous one – on September 11, 2021, in Minsk. This event coincided with the capital's birthday and became part of a grand celebration. Representatives of 25 nationalities took part in the large-scale opening concert. Their culture, including traditional costumes and crafts, musical, choreographic, and culinary art, was presented by: Azerbaijanis, Armenians, Afghans, Belarusians, Bashkirs, Georgians, Dagestanis, Jews, Irish, Italians, Indians, Koreans, Chinese, Lithuanians, Moldovans, Germans, Poles, Palestinians, Russians, Tatars, Turkmen, Ukrainians, Roma, Chuvash, Estonians. Notably, festival guests could not only watch but also try on some national costumes.

The concluding events of the festival, for which over 800 participants qualified based on the results of regional qualifying rounds, will traditionally take place in Grodno on June 3–5, 2022.

In anticipation of the grand opening, the preparation of the general program of events is being finalized, and work plans have been approved. The Grodno Regional Executive Committee and the City Executive Committee have established a headquarters with the participation of all relevant services to promptly address emerging issues. A layout plan for the main facilities, concert and other venues, design sketches for the artistic decoration of the event area, and sketches for printed materials have been developed. The design of the main prize has been approved.

The locations for 17 homesteads representing 30 nationalities have been identified and are being prepared in the courtyards along Sovetskaya, Zamkovaya, Vilenskaya, and Ozheshko streets.

The year 2022 has been declared the Year of Historical Memory, making it symbolic that, with the participation of honored guests of the Festival, a ceremony of laying flowers and wreaths at the mass grave of soldiers and partisans who died during the Great Patriotic War will take place in Gilibert Park. Following this, a round table discussion titled "Belarus – Our Common Home: Unity of Nations and Generations" will be held in the Tizengauz Gallery. Additionally, a parallel round table discussion on "Unity of Culture and Literature: Belarus – A Platform for Peace" will take place at the E.F. Karsky Grodno Regional Library, and a dialogue platform on tourism, "PRO-TOURISM: Industry Analytics and Trends 2022," will be held at the New Castle.

Presentations of the exhibition projects "Unity of Peoples – the Key to Great Victory" and "Belarus – Our Common Home", as well as the books "Sisters of Khatyn" and "Festival of Life", dedicated to the history of the forum, are planned.

A total of about 50 events are included in the festival program. Among them are the theatrical procession of national-cultural public associations "Wreath of National Cultures", the opening and closing ceremonies of the festival, and the operation of the Belarusian courtyard "Home Hearth", where all regions of our country will be presented. In addition, all regions of the republic will present their tourism potential at the "Belarus Through the Eyes of a Tourist" platform. Numerous concert programs by professional and amateur creative groups, and stars of Belarusian pop music will be held.

Film art enthusiasts will be able to enjoy watching movies under the open sky, which will be organized in the cinema courtyard of the "Krasnaya Zvezda" cinema. There, on the second day of the festival, viewers will have the opportunity to participate in master classes and creative programs.

Young festival guests will be invited to participate in the concert and entertainment program of children's creative groups "Musical Harmony" and "Festival Colors". Safety rules on the site will be reminded at the "Safety Fair" organized by the Ministry of Emergency Situations department.

For the youth audience, "Festival Kaleidoscope" is offered – a concert program by a cover band, the "Festival Lights" fire show, and a concert and entertainment program by foreign students of Grodno universities "Wreath of Friendship".

During the festival days, you can taste dishes of various national cuisines in an open-air restaurant.

The Ministry of Communications and Informatization has developed and approved a sketch of a "festival" envelope with an original stamp, and its cancellation is planned as part of the festive program. The Ministry of Sports and Tourism, together with the Grodno Regional Executive Committee and the Grodno City Executive Committee, is preparing a street extreme festival with the participation of representatives from the republic's regions. City enterprises have organized the production of products with the Festival logo (bread, dairy and meat products, alcoholic beverages, etc.).

Student creative groups, including international students, are organized to participate in the "Student Round Dance" creative platform. The operation of more than 170 temporary retail outlets and temporary public catering facilities with over 3,000 seats is planned. The design of retail spaces, uniforms in the form of national costumes, elements of staff uniforms, price tags, and badges with the festival's emblem are being prepared.

On Sunday, June 5, the festival will invite everyone to the Augustów Canal. Gastronomic festival, wheelbarrow and valenki throwing competitions, "chicken races," hot dog and draniki eating contests. For children, "Fairy Tales on the Grass" will be organized, offering them the chance to play as builders and designers of a "mini" Augustów Canal and to build a real "Teepee" Indian dwelling. For extreme sports enthusiasts, the organizers have prepared a real "Strongman Show" – twisting a metal shovel into a spiral and tying steel nails into a knot.

To ensure a worthy reception of guests, active renovation works are underway on approximately 110 buildings, and the improvement of adjacent territories is being carried out. The plan includes the installation of over 110 decorative structures with thematic banners and flag designs, as well as flowers, which will be located both in the central part of the city and at its entrances from various directions.

At the city's transport interchanges, 49 "pyramid" structures will be installed, and at traffic islands, "sphere-ball" structures will be used. Forty new types of decorative structures have been manufactured ("Rhythm," "Triumph," "Festive Pylon," festival bicycle parking). The grand opening of the building complex, reconstructed based on historical principles, "Fisherman's House" at Zamkovaya St., 12, is planned.

The information partner of the festival is CJSC "Stolichnoye Televideniye" (Capital Television).