With love for the small homeland, deliciously and creatively. How did the first day "Вытокаў" go in Postavy
For many, the festival "Vytoki" has become a symbol of the beginning of summer. This traditional sports and cultural holiday brings together youth and families, offering a variety of activities for all ages: from a sports-historical quest and the musical performance "Fashion Vaudeville" to the beloved Olympic quest for children. This year, the festival is hosted by Postavy, and BELTA correspondents joined the events of the first day to capture the cheerful, sporty, and friendly atmosphere of the celebration.
The first day of the festival began with a visit to the Postavy Dairy Plant by the youth of Postavshchina and journalists. As noted by the co-organizer of the festival, director of LLC "BelBrandAudit" Valentina Dynich, such a project is necessary for "Vytoki" as a career guidance line.
The director of the plant, Georgy Kosten, showed the guests all stages of cheese production, told about the history of the plant, and shared plans. "At the moment, within the framework of the state program "One region - one project", the installation of equipment for cottage cheese production is underway. A milk bottling line has already been installed, which is planned to be commissioned during the IV quarter. In addition, we have not been idle in recent years: to expand production, we modernized the boiler house, increasing its capacity by one and a half times. Currently, the reconstruction of the first stage of the treatment facilities has been completed. We have increased the capacity of the treatment facilities by more than two and a half times and continue modernization. We also plan to purchase a line for cutting cheeses into slices and packaging. In the future, we intend to expand cheese production, increasing both the range and production capacities," he said.
The majority of the products from the Postavy Dairy Plant are exported. "Last year, exports amounted to over $40 million. Also, yesterday, as part of the "Belagro" exhibition, an agreement was reached for the supply of a batch of cheeses to Uzbekistan. We have worked with these partners before, but unfortunately, this work was quiet for two years. Yesterday, a new agreement was reached at the exhibition," the director added.
Throughout its 85-year history, the plant has experienced a lot: it operated during the war years, was transferred to another enterprise for some time, and was left in ruins. But today, its products are known to many - under the brand "Postavy Gorodok", they produce butter, sour cream with various fat content, milk, kefir, ryazhenka, baked milk, and cheeses. The dairy plant has created decent working conditions and salaries, various support measures for housing issues, and many other initiatives.
The Postavy Dairy Plant became a venue for the seminar - round table "Belarus - brand of the young". Here, the youth discussed the importance of staying in their native regions, shared ideas for improving existing conditions, and learned about the opportunities that have already been created for them. In addition, young people participated in a creative master class, where they learned to express emotions through text, inspired by what they saw.
The day continued with an artistic interactive event from the "ArtChaos" gallery. Together with artists, the little guests of the festival decorated the new skate-roller park. As in the previous year, "pascilki" (covers woven in Belarusian villages in the late 19th - 20th centuries) were used to decorate the park. However, this year, Belarusian words related to successes and victories were woven into the ornaments. "We organically integrated them into the ornament to combine art and sport," said the author of the concept, Belarusian artist Sergey Ashukha.
Unfortunately, the rain did not allow the paint to dry, but the gallery representatives found a way out. "Of course, it's a pity for the work, as we tried to apply the pattern, we wanted the kids to be interested. But we do not despair. This stage turned out more like a master class for us. The kids understood how to work with a brush, how the paint lays down. And we will leave them the materials because we want the kids to finish this project themselves," noted the director of the gallery, Lilia Lukashenko.
Little resident of Postavy, Alisa Yurkova, shared that she came to the master class with friends. They eagerly awaited the arrival of the festival in their city, and even the warning about rain could not stop them. "It's cool that you can contribute to something that will decorate the city. I have a scooter and rollerblades, so I will come here to ride and joyfully remember how I decorated the area myself," the girl shared.
Angelina Portunova studies at an art school, and in the master class, she saw an opportunity to try herself in a new endeavor. "It was very fun, and I only have positive emotions left," Angelina noted.
The day continued with the presentation of the project "Food with Meaning". Guests of the sports and cultural festival "Vytoki" were presented with dishes of local cuisine, emphasizing their originality and serving features. The presentation was conducted by the folk club of national cuisine, games, and rituals "Tradition" of the Center for Culture and Folk Art of the Postavy District.
The director of the center, Ksenia Gresko, said that the focus was on potato dishes, as it is rightly called the second bread in our country. All the presented dishes are included in the list of intangible cultural heritage of Belarus.
For example, in the Postavy district, even ordinary draniki are prepared in a special way - with cottage cheese. The director explained that it is not officially established why the ancestors prepared draniki this way, but there are assumptions: "Every Belarusian had their own farm. And, of course, there was always a cow-nourisher in the house. There were many dairy products, and that's how they started adding cottage cheese.
And also in Postavy, they prepare unusual dumplings - with "souls". "Initially, dumplings were different, they were made from flour. Then, when potatoes began to play a serious role for Belarusians, they started making dumplings from potatoes. At first, they made them without filling - just balls of grated potatoes. Over time, they began to add a "soul". Initially, this was a memorial dish, it was prepared for the "mourning table". But over time it became less festive, although it is still not so easy to prepare. Therefore, probably, when family or friends gather on Sunday, they decorate our table," Ksenia Gresko said. The filling in the dumplings can be completely different, but in Postavy, traditionally, meat filling and lard with dill are used.
Among the dishes, there are many other treats: crispy pastries, birch kvass, bread kissel, and many others. "Such dishes are still prepared in our families," emphasized the director of the center.
"Vytoki" in Postavy is just gaining momentum. The first day of the festival ended with an evening open-air screening of the film "World Champion". And tomorrow, guests can expect new events: a sports-historical quest will take place, a modern skate-roller park with a workout area will be opened, the festival will be inaugurated, and the musical performance "Fashion Vaudeville" will take place. And on Saturday, the long-beloved Olympic quest will take place, where the little participants will have a chance to win smartwatches, a Bluetooth speaker, or a power bank.