Winners of 9th corporate Fakel Festival’s final round awarded in Sochi
RELEASE
Release
The closing and award ceremony for the final round of Gazprom's 9th corporate Fakel Festival took place in Sochi.
The Festival brought together representatives of 38 subsidiaries of Gazprom from Russia, Belarus and Kyrgyzstan. The jury reviewed 120 performances. Individual performers and ensembles competed in three age groups.
The Grand Prix of the Festival was granted to:
in the age category 5–10 years: the Shchelkunchik (Nutcracker) Music and Dance Theater children's vocal and dance group (creative delegation of Gazprom Dobycha Orenburg);
Shchelkunchik (Nutcracker) Music and Dance Theater children’s vocal and dance group
in the age category 11–16 years: the Dalan showcase dance ensemble (Gazprom Transgaz Ufa);
in the age category 17 years and older: the SmoRODINA duet (Gazprom Transgaz Saint Petersburg) and the Sibirskiy Suvenir (Siberian Souvenir) folk dance ensemble (Gazprom Transgaz Tomsk).
The winner of the Young Painter contest was also awarded at the ceremony. The Grand Prix went to Anna Batratskaya (Gazprom Transgaz Tomsk).
The People's Choice Special Prize was granted to singer Kristina Rodionova (Gazprom Mezhregiongaz) on the basis of the results of the voting that had been held in the GID (Guide) corporate app.
Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, sent a welcome message to the participants and guests of the Festival. An excerpt from the message:
“Fakel is more than just a creative contest. It is a platform that brings together people with shared values. A unique place for people of different ages and nationalities to meet each other. An event celebrating love for the culture and history of the homeland and maintaining traditions. It is extremely important. We are strong as long as we remember our roots.
Dear friends, I thank all participants for their vivid performances. You have given the audience an unforgettable experience and a great mood. I congratulate the winners on their well-deserved victories! You did really great! Keep it up!
I wish our ensembles and individual performers to enjoy good health, inspiration and continued success in their creative work at the next, i.e. the 10th, edition of this celebration of talents!”
Background
The biennial Fakel 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, Surgut, Tomsk, Ufa, Yekaterinburg, and Yugorsk. The final rounds of the Festival were held in Gelendzhik (2006–2012), Vitebsk (Belarus, 2013), and Sochi (2015, 2017 and 2019).
Full coverage of the Festival is available at its official website www.gazpromfakel.ru (in Russian).