Pan is not missing

Vitebsk “bazaar” with pleasure

“Slavic Bazaar” in Vitebsk will soon surpass “Midem”, and Rammstein and Madonna will perform there. This is, of course, a joke. But not unfounded. If you listen to the organizers, then the current, fifteenth festival was a success in all respects: there is enough money, and the city of Vitebsk is becoming prettier due to the infusion, and the audience is pouring in, and the artists are happy... The transition from the recent complete pessimism to victorious optimism is invigorating. I remember that even the year before last, completely different moods reigned in Vitebsk: the program is deteriorating and becoming smaller, all the attention, no matter how you look at it, is being eaten up by well-promoted pop stars and a variety of entertainment, there is an acute shortage of funds, etc. But in the last two years the situation has improved.

Festival director Rodion Bass admits: “It is impossible to satisfy pop stars anywhere and ever. But here, in fact, everyone is a star. Contestants, famous artists, and the public... everyone is on an equal footing.” It was here that Bass noted that now “there is enough funding to raise the level of today’s popular foreign stars,” perhaps even to Rammstein and Madonna. The only problem, according to Bass, is the infrastructure of Vitebsk. Therefore, organizers cannot always meet the artists’ requirements in terms of accommodation, food and other amenities. Bass hopes these issues will be resolved.

Traditionally, the main complaint about the festival is the focus on frenzied promotion of the unfading genre of “nonsense pop”. But believe me: what is shown on TV is only the façade of the Bazaar. In fact, everything here is much more diverse, more exciting and more worthy. According to my observations, Vitebsk residents are more theatergoers than pop singers. Any imported theatrical production (especially Moscow, even if it is an outright enterprise or an ancient performance) on the stage of the local Yakub Kolas Theater attracts a packed hall.

Composer Andrei Petrov exhaustively described the “Slavyanobazar” atmosphere: “Vitebsk is a unique city. Unlike all others, during the festival it lives only with the festival.” Not only Andrei Pavlovich had this impression: many townspeople really change their lifestyle on festival days. Some switch to lucrative festival “hack work” (which is quite understandable), while others even take time off from work and go to concerts and performances around the clock. Therefore, it is strange when Vitebsk reality is called “socialism of the eighties.” Although some things - especially in the service sector - evoke unpleasant memories of that era, we must admit: in the 80s, no cities stood on their ears all night in carnival processions, and pop stars did not start concerts at two in the morning.

The largest delegations, naturally, are from Belarus, Ukraine and Russia. Representatives of such distant countries as Brazil, Chile and Iran came for the first time. In total, more than 80 events will take place at the Bazaar, including concerts, film and theater programs, exhibitions of craftsmen’s products, etc. Even the purely business-oriented 39th Assembly of the International Federation of Festival Organizations (FIDOF) will be held. "Bazaar" is a long-time member of this organization; its previous 38 assemblies were held as part of the world exhibition of show business "Midem" in Cannes (one of the main annual events in the record business). Now the Fidof people decided that the goals of the exhibition did not completely coincide with their interests, and chose Vitebsk, considering it a suitable place for professional festival managers to work. After all, here the organization is “at the level”, and the “Bazaar” is a live action, watching which, one can evaluate the possible problems of such forums.

For the first time, a children's competition and a competition for young performers will be judged by interactive voting among television viewers. Previously, everything was decided by the jury, invariably choosing those with strong voices and hitting the notes, even if the contestant came out with frankly stupid material. And viewers, as a rule, are guided by some other criteria, sometimes more adequate than those of strict professionals. We’ll tell you what the outcome will be at the “East Slavic Eurovision” when we find out.

Alexander BELYAEV, Vitebsk