The predecessor of the festival was "Polish Song Festival in Vitebsk" that was held in Vitebsk. Vitebsk was chosen to host the festival according to the agreements with Polish cityZielona Góra where "Soviet Song Festival" was held since 1965. The main venue of the present-day festival, the Amphitheatre, was constructed especially for such occasion in 1988. Except from scenic area there were tennis courts, aerobic gyms, restaurant, and a coffee bar. Only two editions of the "Polish Song Festival in Vitebsk" were held: in 1988 and 1990. After the Dissolution of the Soviet Union the cultural ties between the former Soviet bloc countries have broken. So there emerged an idea to organize a cultural arrangement in order to show the cultural diversity of Slavic nations. The first Slavianski Bazaar was opened in 1992. It was organized by the Belarusian Government with the financial support from Russia and Ukraine. The main goal of the very first festival was an attempt to acquaint the Belarusian audience with pop and folk trends from Slavic countries. In 1993 the festival became a member of the International Federation of Festival Organizations. Cultural variety has grown as the representatives from non-Slavic countries expressed their interest in participating in the festival. Since 1995 Slavianski Bazaar has acquired the new concept and changed its name to the International Festival of Arts "Slavianski Bazaar".Cinematographic presentations and folk art fairs have become the recurrent events in the festival’s calendar. In 1998 the festival has become an inter-state cultural project of Belarus and Russia and suffered another name change that fixed the festival’s affiliation to the city of Vitebsk: International Festival of Arts "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk". The festival was awarded the diploma 'FIDOF Festival of the Year 2000' "for impeccable quality of organization, professionalism, hospitality, and promotion of noble humanistic aims on the international level", 'FIDOF Festival of the Year 2004' and other awards.
The contest
During the festival, a contest for young singers is held. It has two stages, each held on a separate day. On the first day the contestants should perform the song in a national language of the country the contestant represents. All vocals are sung live using backing track. On the second day the contestants perform the song written by a composer from any Slavic country in any of the Slavic languages. On this stage all vocals must be sung live with the National Concert Orchestra of Belarus under Mikhail Finberg's conduction. The final decision is made by the international jury usually consisting of 10 people who are usually former winners of the contest, former contestants, or other celebrities. After the performance each jury gives points from 0 to 10. At the end of the second day all the points are summed up and the Grand Prix winner and other places holders are defined. The festival has been the starting point in the careers of several singers such as: Ruslana, Taisia Povaliy, Toše Proeski, Bobi Mojsovski, Pyotr Elfimov, Željko Joksimović and Dimash Kudaibergen. , the Macedonian superstar won the festival in 2000
Year
Country
Performer
1992
Oleksa Berest
1993
Taisia Povaliy
1994
FR Yugoslavia
Milan Šćepović - Šćepa
1995
FR Yugoslavia
Filip Žmaher
1996
Ruslana
1997
FR Yugoslavia
Svetlana Slavković
1998
Rafael Dahan
1999
FR Yugoslavia
Željko Joksimović
2000
Toše Proeski
2001
Theona Dolnikova
2002
FR Yugoslavia
Milovan Zimonjić
2003
Maxim Sapatskov
2004
Pyotr Elfimov
2005
Polina Smolova
2006
Oksana Bogoslovskaya
2007
Natalya Krasnyanskaya
2008
Donny Montell
2009
Dmitry Danilenko
2010
Damir Kedžo
2011
Alyona Lanskaya
2012
Bobi Mojsoski
2013
Michał Kaczmarek
2014
Rodrigo de la Cadena
2015
Dimash Kudaibergen
2016
Alexey Gross
2017
Vlad Sytnik
2018
Marcel Roșca
2019
Ädilxan Makïn
2020
Raman Volazneu
Children's contest winners
The children's contest during the festival in Vitebsk was first held in 2003, an expansion of the cultural and artistic diversity of the event. It has become one of the main events in the East European countries for children performers who are making their way to Junior Eurovision Song Contest.
