ECMI participates in festival of national cultures in Hrodna, Belarus

Representatives of the ECMI are present at the 9^th Republican Festival of National Cultures in Hrodna, Belarus. The festival spans over three days beginning today.

European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI) is invited by the Grodno regional government. The ECMI and its work is going to be presented during the festival.

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Facts of the festival:

The Republican Festival of National Cultures is held every two years. The festival is a performance representing the culture and traditions of 33 different national or ethnic communities which live and work in Belarus.

It is a place, where the communities sum up the results of their creative activity and get the chance to become closer with the culture of other nations.

The festival was the first of a kind in the post-Soviet space. It was first founded as a forum in 1996, hosting 11 national cultural and educational associations. Since that time the number of participating nationalities has increased three times. This time it includes residents of Belarus from Venezuela, Spain, and several African countries.

The festival is organized by the Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Education and Republican Festival of National Cultures, Office of the Plenipotentiary for Religious and Nationalities Affairs, Center for Nationality Cultures, regional  executive committees, Minsk City and Grodno City.

Read also: Minorities and Belarus in Brief, page 20-21 in ECMI Annual Report 2011.