VITEBSK, 25 July (BelTA) – Over 300 young people from six countries will come to Vitebsk to take part in the 10th Orthodox youth festival Hodegetria, BelTA learnt from the eparchial department for youth affairs of the Vitebsk-Orsha Eparchy. The festival will open on 31 July. Taking part in the forum will be young Orthodox believers from Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Germany, Macedonia, and the USA. The concept of the festival is underpinned by a belief that creativity is a gift of God that shows that a human being was created after the image and likeness of God. Young people are most gifted when it comes to the greatest of arts – the shaping of their own lives; therefore the festival is meant for them. The participants of the festival will meet with the clergy and take part in various events, like master classes in bell ringing, hair styling in the traditions of Western Belarus, belt weaving, pottery, and ancient dancing. They will take part in an art project “Brotherly Round Dance” and a youth ball featuring re-enactment clubs. Young people will be taken on an excursion around Vitebsk and Polotsk. A gala concert of the festival will be held on stage of the Summer Amphitheater. On 5 August the participants of the festival will go on a religious procession to Smolensk that will host a celebration dedicated to the Icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria on 9 August. The festival is organized by the Orthodox Youth Union of the Belarusian Orthodox Church, the Vitebsk Eparchial Department for Youth Affairs, Alexander Nevsky Brotherhood, Alexander Nevsky Laura of Saint Petersburg, the Slavonic Youth Union, and the culture department of Vitebsk City Hall.

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