On July 12, Vitebsk /Olga Bogacheva - BELTA/. The Day of the Union State will be held today at the "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk" festival, the festival directorate informed BELTA.
The day will open with a meeting between the State Secretary of the Union State, Grigory Rapota, and the Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, Alexander Kosinets. Then, the distinguished guest, together with representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union of Belarus and Russia and the Standing Committee of the Union State, participants of public organizations of veterans of the Great Patriotic War and military service, and members of youth organizations, will lay flowers at the Eternal Flame on Victory Square. A traditional press conference on the occasion of the Day of the Union State will be held at the international press center of the festival directorate.
On the same day, the solemn opening of a monument to the Soviet party and state figure, Belarusian diplomat, and one of the founders of "Slavianski Bazaar", Vladimir Grigoryev, will take place. Master classes for novice masters of decorative and applied arts will be held at the Vitebsk State Technological College by V. Zubritsky, the author and creator of the "Bouquet of Slavs" exhibition of Pavlovsky Posad shawls and scarves, and N. Bobrovich, a Belarusian fashion designer, with a demonstration of author's folk costumes.
The program of the Day of the Union State will be complemented by an open-air painting session for young artists from Belarus and Russia at the Ilya Repin Museum-Estate "Zdravnevo". The young talents will paint from nature at the same spots that the great artist once chose to create his works. Experienced teachers will assist the children. A ceremony of presenting copies of Ilya Repin's paintings as a gift to the museum-estate will be held with the participation of children, and Grigory Rapota will open the exhibition. He will also present diplomas to the young artists for participating in the open-air session and valuable gifts.
Important events of today will also include the draw for the XXII International Pop Song Performers Competition "Vitebsk-2013" and a gala concert with the awarding of winners of the children's music competition, the presentation of the anniversary exhibition "Only Eternal Values" by Tatiana and Yuri Rudenko (Belarus), "Star Hour" with the popular Italian singer Al Bano, and the presentation of the films "Footprints of the Apostles" (Belarus) and "Legend No. 17" (Russia) as part of the "Festival Film Program". The audience will be delighted by the "Parade of Smiles" with Klara Novikova, Yuri Askarov, the group "Ex-BB", and other pop artists.