"The Slavic Bazaar is not only a symbol of Slavic people but it became an important factor in the world culture as well," Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Friday at the opening ceremony.
The Belarusian President said the festival attracts those "unwilling to dissolve in the sea of globalization."
Lukashenko presented this year's special award to famous Russian composer Andrei Petrov.
This year, the festival will have a record number of participants-as many as 6,000. They come from 33 countries across the world, including Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Estonia, Latvia, Armenia, Georgia, the United States, Germany, Italy, Israel, Egypt, and Malta. Representatives of Chile, Brazil, and Iran will also be taking part-for the first time in the festival's history.
