Vitebsk or Vitsyebsk is a city in northern Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Vitebsk Region and Vitebsk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2024, it has 358,395 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth-largest city. It is served by Vitebsk Vostochny Airport and Vitebsk Air Base.
Belarus is an Eastern European country with a rich tradition of folk and religious music. The country's folk music traditions can be traced back to the times of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The country's musical traditions spread with its people to countries like Russia, Canada, United States, Kazakhstan and Latvia. The people of Belarus were exposed mostly to Russian pop music during this period and also after independence in 1991. In 2002, however, President Alexander Lukashenko has signed a decree requiring 50% of all FM broadcast music to be Belarusian in origin, and since 1 January 2005 the rule has been even stricter. However, it does not regulate the language of the songs, so most of the music which is broadcast is still in Russian.
Belarusian culture is the product of a millennium of development under the impact of a number of diverse factors. These include the physical environment; the ethnographic background of Belarusians ; the paganism of the early settlers and their hosts; Eastern Orthodox Christianity as a link to the Byzantine literary and cultural traditions; the country's lack of natural borders; the flow of rivers toward both the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea; and the variety of religions in the region.
Natalia Yuryevna Podolskaya is a Belarusian singer who performed for Russia at the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest and was ranked No. 15. In 2008, she became a Russian citizen. In 2015, she won the Golden Gramophone Award.
Ruslan Fyodorovich Alekhno is a Belarusian-Russian singer who rose to popularity after winning Narodniy Artist – 2, the Russian version of Pop Idol. Alekhno received the Medal of Francysk Skaryna in 2019.
beZ bileta is a Belarusian alternative rock band from Minsk active since 1998.
Kasia Miednik is best known as a young girl singer from Poland.
Alexey Alexandrovich Zhigalkovich is a Belarusian singer. He participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2007 and won with one point more than the Armenian runner up. He sang the song "S druz'yami". It was a song with a fast tempo and energetic dancing. He wrote this song himself.
Federation Internationale des Organisations de Festivals was an organization to hold and organize festivals worldwide. It was established in 1966, and headquartered in Split, Yugoslavia with Secretary General professor Armando Moreno. Later, it was headquartered in California, United States, where it was registered as a Section 501(c) non-profit organization. It was the member of the U.S. National Music Council. The organization ceased to exist in 2005 after the death of its founder.
Through Art – to Peace and Understanding is an award made in Belarus to people of culture and arts, artistic groups or organizations who have made significant contribution to international cultural cooperation, promoting the achievements and examples of world culture based on humanistic ideals and values.
Minsk Pride is a gay pride parade in Minsk, Belarus. This is a festival in support of tolerance for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people in Belarus.
Dayana Yurievna Kirillova is a Russian singer. She is a multiple laureate of Russian and international song contests, the Russian representative at the 2013 Slavianski Bazaar, and the Russian representative at the 2013 Junior Eurovision which took place on 30 November in Kyiv.
"Into a Fantasy" is a song by Norwegian singer-songwriter Alexander Rybak. It was released on 12 June 2014 as a digital download in Norway. The song features on the How to Train Your Dragon 2 soundtrack, though it only appears in the European versions of the film. The song was written by Alexander Rybak and produced by Knut Bjørnar Asphol.
Naviband is a Belarusian band from Minsk. The band was founded a duo between vocalist and guitarist Arciom Lukjanienka and vocalist and keyboardist Ksienija Žuk, later also featured guitarist Aliaksandr Taboĺski, bassist Uladzislaŭ Čaščavik, and drummer Uladzimir Biehier.
Dinmuhammed Qanatuly Qudaibergen known professionally as Dimash Qudaibergen, is a Kazakh singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He is university-trained in classical as well as contemporary music, and is known for his exceptionally wide vocal range. He has performed songs in thirteen languages.
VAL is a Belarusian band comprising Valeria Gribusova and Vladislav Pashkevich.
Zinaida Alexandrovna Kupriyanovich, sometimes known professionally as Zina Kupriyanovich or Zena, and now known as Zina Bless, is a Belarusian singer, actress, and television presenter. Kupriyanovich represented Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with the song "Like It", placing 24th in the final. She has additionally cohosted the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Minsk, and voiced the Russian dub of the eponymous character in the film Moana (2016).
Gunesh Alisafayevna Abasova, often known simply as Gunesh, is a Belarusian-Azerbaijani singer-songwriter. She represented Belarus in the Turkvision Song Contest 2013 with the song "Son Hatıralar".
Larisa Vladimirovna Gribaleva is a Belarusian singer, TV presenter and actress.
The Flower Festival in Uzbekistan is an annual spring festival of flowers in Uzbekistan, held in Namangan, Tashkent, Bukhara, Samarkand.
