Special report from the Embassy of Russia in The Netherlands.
One of the most colorful events of the Russian-Dutch Bilateral Year programme – the Festival of National Culture “Constellation of Russia” took place on 24 August in Vlissingen and on 25 August in Amsterdam.
Festival opening in Vlissingen harbor that hosted a training ship Mir (“Peace”) of the RussianStateSailingAcademy attracted hundreds of people. The cloudy ambiance of the dull weather was dispelled by beautiful sunshiny performances of the Russian dance and music folk groups, though umbrellas proved to be particularly useful as well.
The gala-concert of the Festival held on 25 August at Museumplein in Amsterdam was highlighted by performances of the Russian legendary Pyatnitsky State Academic Russian Folk Choir, the Igor Moiseev State Academic Folk Dance Ensemble, the Russian State Northern folk choir, the State Dance Ensemble “Vainakh” (Chechen Republic), the State Kalmyk Dance and Song Ensemble “Tyulpan” (“Tulip”) and many others. A numerous audience warmly welcomed the artists and unanimously sang the famous “Aan de Amsterdamse Grachten” song performed by the Pyatnitsky Choir.
The Festival was organized by the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad and International Humanitarian Cooperation (in Russian known as Rossotrudnichestvo http://rs.gov.ru/) and supported by the Embassy and the Trade Representation of the Russian Federation in the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
