On June 11, Vitebsk /Diana Kurilo - BELTA/. A master class on weaving Kupala wreaths will be held for the ancient holiday of Ivan Kupala, which will be widely celebrated in Vitebsk for the first time. The revival of ancient rites is one of the goals of the joint project "Daugavpils and Vitebsk: Cultural Cooperation and Development", which is being implemented within the framework of the Latvia-Lithuania-Belarus cross-border cooperation programme by the Daugavpils Centre of Latvian Culture and the Vitebsk Culture Centre. This was told to a BELTA correspondent by project coordinator Victoria Shpak. The holding of the folk festival Ivan Kupala in Vitebsk on July 7 is one of the events of this project, the scenario plan for which was developed by cultural managers from Vitebsk and Daugavpils. It is based on the specifics of celebrating Ivan Kupala (or Jāņi, according to Latvian traditions) in Belarus and Latvia. In addition to the master class on weaving wreaths, the festival will feature a meeting with the Honoured Amateur Ensemble of the Republic of Belarus, the "Lyavonikha" dance ensemble of the Vitebsk Culture Centre, the folklore song and dance group "Svatra", and the children's vocal studio "Zhemchuzhinka" from the Daugavpils Centre of Latvian Culture. The project "Daugavpils and Vitebsk: Cultural Cooperation and Development" provides for joint cultural events: the celebration of the traditional national holidays Ivan Kupala and Līgo with the participation of Belarusian and Latvian creative groups, using historical and folklore themes aimed at preserving and popularizing folklore traditions and customs in the border regions, organizing concerts, implementing cultural exchange programmes, providing the "Lyavonikha" ensemble with Belarusian musical instruments, stage costumes and accessories, training ensemble participants in new dance productions by a choreographer from Latvia, and reconstructing the summer stage of the Soviet Army Cultural and Recreational Complex, a branch of the Vitebsk Culture Centre. All this will contribute to the main goal of the project: to provide an opportunity to hold various events, including international ones, aimed at popularizing national cultures, customs and traditions at a higher technical level.