The Vitebsk region will host a regional tourist rally for students from May 20-22, bringing together about 500 schoolchildren from across the region. This was reported to a BELTA correspondent by the Vitebsk Regional Palace of Children and Youth (VODDiM).
The event will start in Vitebsk on May 20 with a patriotic ceremony. "At 11:00 AM, a rally-requiem will be held on Victory Square at the memorial complex honouring the liberator soldiers, partisans, and underground fighters of the Vitebsk region. Participants of the tourist rally will lay flowers at the Eternal Flame, and words of encouragement will be heard. The entire tourist rally will be dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Soviet people's victory in the Great Patriotic War. Twenty-two teams from the entire northern region, comprising about 500 young people, will take part in the event. All of them have passed the district stages and qualified for the regional round," the VODDiM noted.
Subsequently, the young tourism enthusiasts will move to the village of Malyye Lettsy, where competitions will take place on Lake Shevino for three days.
The tourist rally programme includes sports and competition components. Boys and girls will need to demonstrate their skills in tourist and applied multi-discipline events, pedestrian and bicycle tourism techniques, as well as showcase their orienteering abilities.
Regarding the competition aspect, participants will need to present a "visiting card" – a presentation of their team, briefly introducing themselves with an engaging approach. Local historians will compete for the title of best in the "Heroic Vitebsk Region" stage, while talented artists can express themselves in the "Rally Days" wall newspaper competition. Teams will also be required to demonstrate their camping skills.
Based on the results of the tourist rally, the jury will select the team that will represent the Vitebsk region in the national final, scheduled for June.