Final round of 7th corporate Fakel Festival opens in Sochi
RELEASE
Release
The opening ceremony for the final round of Gazprom's 7th corporate Fakel Festival took place at the Rosa Hall concert center in Krasnaya Polyana, Sochi. The event brought together over 1,600 people.
The three-day competition will involve 41 delegations from Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and China. The Festival is attended by Gazprom's foreign partners from Bolivia, France, Germany, Slovenia, and Vietnam.
The final round of the Festival will feature 126 performances in such categories as “Vocals,” “Choreography,” “Vocal and Instrumental Ensembles,” “Circus and Performance Art,” and “Folk Music.” Individual performers and ensembles will compete in three age groups: 5 to 10, 11 to 16, and 17 and older. In addition, the Young Painter contest will be held at the Festival.
The jury of the final round includes prominent cultural figures from the Russian Federation and is led by Alexandra Permyakova, People's Artist of Russia, Artistic Director of the Pyatnitsky State Russian Folk Choir.
“We are pleased to see the number of participants constantly increase, which means we are heading the right way. Fight and win! Our country should have as many talented people as possible. I cordially greet all of you at this wonderful Festival and wish good luck to the participants,” said Alexander Bespalov, Head of Gazprom Department, Head of the Festival's Organizing Committee.
The winners of the final round will be announced at the awards ceremony on May 18, 2017. The Festival will conclude with a gala concert featuring the laureates on May 19, 2017.
Background
The biennial Festival has a tripartite structure. During the first round, Gazprom's subsidiaries select their best performers, who then take part in the zonal rounds. The zonal rounds (for the southern and northern zones) are held at the second stage. The winners then perform in the third and final round.
The first corporate Fakel Festival was conducted in 2004–2005. The host cities of the zonal rounds included Astrakhan, Belgorod, Kazan, Khanty-Mansiysk, Nizhny Novgorod, Orenburg (twice), Surgut, Tomsk, Yekaterinburg, and Yugorsk. The final rounds of the Festival were held in Gelendzhik (2006–2012), Vitebsk (Belarus, 2013), and Sochi (2015).
Full coverage of the Festival is available at its official website www.gazpromfakel.ru (in Russian).