The Belarusian president’s special prize Slavic Hope was presented to Nafisa Akiyeva from Azerbaijan, a participant of the international song contest Vitebsk 2026, by Deputy Prime Minister, chairperson of the organizing committee for the Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk festival Natalya Petkevich.

Axar.az reports, citing BelTA, that the deputy prime minister noted that many warm words had been spoken from the Summer Amphitheater stage over the course of the festival.

“One thing I will never tire of saying is how grateful we are to our president for preserving this festival 35 years ago, reviving it, and lifting it to a level that would be incredibly hard, if not impossible, to outdo. Thank you for giving millions of viewers and TV audiences such a magnificent celebration during these July days. Thank you for making this stage a launchpad for so many pop singers. Thank you for turning this festival into a meeting place for different art forms here, on the home soil of Chagall, Pen, and so many other legendary figures. May our festival see many more anniversaries. I wish us all that in another 35 years, we’ll gather in this hall again, maybe a little renewed, for yet another anniversary, and in the same company,” Natalya Petkevich said.