Artur Parfenchikov launched the festive events for the Day of the Republic of Karelia in Petrozavodsk
The program opened with the International Song Festival on the central square of the city. During the day, the residents and guests will enjoy patriotic, creative, and other activities.
Today, the Karelian capital is hosting celebrations dedicated to the 105th anniversary of the republic foundation.
A large festive program was prepared for the residents and guests. It began with a large-scale song festival “Karelia Poyet” which attracted 2,000 performers.
The concert opened with the song block “Hello, the Country of Heroes!” The combined festival choir performed the national anthem of the Russian Federation, the anthem of Karelia, and “Let's Bow to Those Great Years.”
The Head of Karelia Artur Parfenchikov gave the start to the festive events.
– Today we celebrate two holidays at once, the Day of the Republic of Karelia and the Day of the City of Petrozavodsk, which was founded 322 years ago. Since then, our city has had its own labor, military, and heroic history. Our fellow countrymen, our ancestors always stood up to defend their land in difficult times. 10 years ago, the President of Russia awarded Petrozavodsk the honorary title of “The City of Military Glory”. And today we celebrate the 81st anniversary of liberation, revival of Petrozavodsk by the soldiers and sailors of the Onego Flotilla. On June 28, 1944, Moscow saluted Petrozavodsk liberation with salvos of hundreds of guns, – the Head of the Republic reminded. – Karelia has always been a place where people worked as well as sang. The Republic has rich song and choral traditions. Our land is the birthplace of runes, epics, and songs. On this holiday, we receive thousands of guests from all corners of our great Russia. In the Year of Defender of the Fatherland, we together honour our heroes.
Today, 74 choirs from Karelia, different regions and cities of the country, from St. Petersburg to Omsk, will perform on Kirov’s Square. During the day, folk, patriotic and favorite songs of the locals will be performed on the festive stage by the Male Choir from Yaroslavl, the Academic Mixed Choir from Veliky Novgorod, the Olonets Folk Choir “Karjalan Koivu”, the Academic Choir of the St. Petersburg State Electrotechnical University named after V.I. Ulyanov, Petrovsky, Veps and Pomor Folk Choirs, and many others. The mechanics of the combined choirs are managed by a team of conductors, headed by the Honored Worker of Culture of Russia Anatoly Tsep, the head of the musical arts department of the State Russian House of Folk Art named after V.D. Polenov. The team is celebrating the 110th anniversary of the institution this year. The singing is accompanied by a performance of the Orchestra of National Instruments of Karelia, dance numbers, ethnic fashion shows, and concerts by popular Karelian groups.
The culmination of the song festival will be the block “No Doubt, Karelia!”, which will begin at 17.30. All participants of the festival will unite in a grandiose combined choir to finish the concert with popular compositions.
Let us add that the first song festival took place in Sortavala 129 years ago. The organization of a large-scale festival this year became possible thanks to the grant provided by the OOGO “Russian Culture Foundation” within the framework of the federal project “Family Values and Cultural Infrastructure” of the national project "Family".
The full program of the festive events on June 28 can be found at the link.
