They surprised and impressed

Vytoki sports and cultural festival was held in Postavy

“We have never had anything like this before!” residents of Postavy exclaimed, strolling through the venues of the Vytoki festival. For three days, the district centre of Vitebsk Region lived the sports and cultural holiday. It gathered a huge number of guests — on the last day alone, about 25,000 people visited it!

Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee Aleksandr Subbotin, NOC President Viktor Lukashenko
and Chairman of the Postavy District Executive Committee Sergei Chepik

This season has become the fifth anniversary season for the festival. President of Belarus’ National Olympic Committee (NOC) Viktor Lukashenko said, “When you start any project, you probably want it to become large-scale and popular. Therefore, something like this was expected from Vytoki.

We may not have expected that the festival would become people’s favourite, but we are glad that it turned out that way.” 

  












Vytoki sports and cultural festival in Postavy, Vitebsk Region 

Belarus’ Sports and Tourism Minister Sergei Kovalchuk reminded that Vytoki was held in our country for the 21st time, “The festival has been hosted in different parts of Belarus. What is important is that every time, it improves and develops. I think such projects will give a new impetus to the development of many sports. When the organisers conceived this project, the main idea was to bring the festival to the regions — after all, our strength lies in the regions. By improving the sports infrastructure, we raise the quality of athletes to a new level. Thanks to this project, thanks to the support of the Head of State and the Government, we will be able to bring our sport to an even higher level in the near future.”  
Everyone could find something to their liking at Vytoki, because the organisers offered the festival participants a rich and very diverse programme again. Fans of intellectual games could try themselves in an Olympic quiz and a sports and historical quest while music and art fans enjoyed a concert with famous Belarusian performers, an ensemble of dulcimer players, the Fashionable Vaudeville theatrical production, and more. Sports enthusiasts were looking forward to the start of the Olympic quest, which featured more than 30 sports! Volleyball and basketball, modern pentathlon, tennis, rowing, handball and hockey, archery, judo, karate — and this list is far from complete. Children under the age of 14, passing tests on locations, not only competed for valuable prizes from the organisers, but also got acquainted with a variety of sports disciplines. Our famous athletes helped them in this.
“Renowned athletes come to the festival, tell and show the participants what certain sports are,” recounted Olympic canoe sprint champion Aliaksandr Bahdanovich. “When I joined rowing, I realised that it is a difficult sport, not so interesting for a child. But when older athletes came and I saw what I could become, I realised that I wanted to continue to practise, I wanted to be like them.

Vytoki is a unique project that unites sports and culture, and shows the development of a particular region.”  

     











Two-time Olympic trampoline champion Ivan Litvinovich shared his impressions of the festival, “Guys can try themselves in different sports at Vytoki. There are many venues here, where they can meet their idols and communicate with them. The festival ignites children’s interest in sports.” 
Distinguished Russian athletes, representatives of the Athletes’ commission of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), were invited to the festival in Postavy. They also took part in masterclasses for guys from children’s and youth schools, as well as in other events of the festival. Following it, they admitted that it was the first time they saw such an engrossing format of a sports and cultural celebration, and they would like to use some of the developments of its organisers in their projects.
Viktor Lukashenko noted that a study had been conducted that showed that after the Vytoki festival, the number of people involved in sports in each city increased by 20 percent! Not all of them will remain in sports, but if at least 10 percent continue to develop in their chosen field, the organisers of the holiday also deserve credit for this. By the way, after the Vytoki festival, children in Postavy got even more opportunities for doing sports: as a gift from Belarus’ NOC, the regional centre received a brand-new skate park — representatives of breakdancing, cycling, and roller sports were the first to test its grounds during the opening ceremony.
“There are not many such skate parks in our country,” Viktor Lukashenko stressed. “This is a youth project. Last year, we opened such an object in Pruzhany. We go there occasionally — the ground is completely packed. I am sure that it will become a place of attraction here too.” 
The guests of the festival had plenty of emotions. Irina Ridlevich, who came with her sons and their friend, admitted that she had found out that Vytoki would be held in Postavy long before the festival. She had never visited this festival in other towns before, so she got to know it in her hometown. “It is very cool here! It is interesting for children to participate in the Olympic quest, and parents can relax,” the Postavy resident shared her emotions. Alyona Budich, who arrived from the agricultural town of Dunilovichi with her son Artyom, agreed with Irina. The woman was impressed with a lot of sports games, captivating activities for children and adults, which made her thoroughly enjoy the holiday.  
Sergei Chepik, Chairman of the Postavy District Executive Committee, revealed that the preparations for Vytoki in the town were serious. Thus, after a large-scale reconstruction, a town stadium with artificial turf was opened, where local football players will now try to hone their skills. “Postavy residents were really waiting for Vytoki!” Sergei Chepik noted. “Many thanks to the organisers of the festival for holding it and for the gifts that our children have received.”


  












Children and young people had fun passing Olympic quest at Vytoki 

By Tatiana Pastushenko

Photos by Yelizaveta Kobetskaya