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24 belarusian folk food festivals you must visit to taste Belarus 🍽️🇧🇾
A delicious journey by regions
(Festival names are kept in their original form)

Brest Region 👇

1. LUNINETSKIYA KLUBNITSY (ЛУНIНЕЦКIЯ КЛУБНIЦЫ)
A signature strawberry festival — tasty, joyful, fragrant, and musical. Expect a strawberry parade with the King and Queen of Strawberry, a fair, and sweet pastry delights.
📍 Luninets District, Dvorets village

2. MOTALSKIYA PRYSMAKI (МОТАЛЬСКIЯ ПРЫСМАКI)
An international gastro-ethno festival celebrating Polesia cuisine. Held once every two years in August. Next edition — 2027.
📍 Ivanava District, Motol village

3. SKOKAUSKIYA SPASOUKI (СКОКАЎСКІЯ СПАСОЎКІ)
A Belarusian food festival with a costumed procession, fair, folk crafts market, concerts, and theatrical shows.
📍 Brest District, Skoki village, Nemtsevich Estate

4. ZHABINKAUSKI DRANIK (ЖАБIНКАЎСКI ДРАНIK)
A new potato festival where Khemelevo becomes the capital of draniki (potato pancakes). Could the taste depend on the potato variety?
📍 Zhabinka District, Khemelevo village

5. POLESSKI VYUN (ПОЛЕССКИЙ ВЬЮН)
A gastro-eco festival dedicated to the vyun fish, native to Polesia and now endangered. Includes the fish soup contest “Battle of Ladles,” kayaking, crafts workshops, and Belarusian dishes.
📍 Pinsk District, Horodishche village

6. INTERNATIONAL CRANBERRY FESTIVAL
Cranberry desserts, tastings, swamp excursions in the Olmany wetlands, berry-harvesting tools, and contests for the best cranberry dish and costume of the “Swamp Kingdom.”
📍 Stolin District, Olmany village

Vitebsk Region 👇

7. VISHNEVY FESTIVAL (ВИШНЕВЫЙ ФЕСТИВАЛЬ)
A cherry-themed gastro festival. Thanks to it, Hlybokaye is unofficially known as the “Cherry Capital” of Belarus.
📍 Glybokaye

8. ZHURAULI I ZHURAVINY (ЖУРАЎЛI I ЖУРАВIНЫ)
An eco-gastronomic festival during cranberry season at the ancient Yelnya bog, where over 30,000 cranes gather.
📍 Miory

9. BULBYANY FEST (БУЛЬБЯНЫ ФЭСТ)
A warm and hearty potato festival with traditional flavors and a cozy atmosphere.
📍 Sharkovshchina District, v. Hermanovichi

10. YABLOCHNY SPAS (ЯБЛОЧНЫЙ СПАС)
An eco-gastronomic, cultural, and religious festival held in an apple orchard. Once every two years.
📍 Sharkovshchina District, v. Bolshie Alashki

11. PAAZERSKI KIRMASH (ПААЗЕРСКI КIРМАШ)
A festival reviving traditional Belarusian cuisine and culinary heritage.
📍 Sharkovshchina

12. KLYOTSKI Z DUSHAMI (КЛЁЦКI З ДУШАМI)
A festival dedicated to preserving the secrets of the famous stuffed dumplings “with soul”.
📍 Sharkovshchina District, Radyuki village

13. BASHNEVSKAYA UKHA (БАШНЕВСКАЯ УХА)
A sporty gastro festival focused on fishing and cooking the best fish soup (ukha).
📍 Shumilino District, Bashni village

Mogilev Region 👇

14. PRAZDNIK OGURTSA (ПРАЗДНИК ОГУРЦА)
A cucumber festival celebrating harvest, farmers’ work, fairs, songs, dances, and plenty of fresh and pickled cucumbers.
📍 Shklov

15. SMAKFEST
A city food festival where restaurants create tasting sets inspired by the “Cuisines of the World.”
📍 Bobruisk

16. DRYBINSKIYA TARZHKI (ДРЫБIНСКIЯ ТАРЖКI)
A fair inspired by 19th-century traditions: herbal teas, fish dishes, bread, honey, crafts, folk games, and masterclasses.
📍 Dribin

17. HASPADARCHY SYR (ГАСПАДАРЧЫ СЫР)
A cheese festival showcasing over 30 varieties of traditional homemade cheeses — soft, hard, curd, smoked, sweet, and savory.
📍 Slavgorod

Gomel Region 👇

18. DNEPROUSKAYA UKHA (ДНЕПРОВСКАЯ УХА)
The tastiest fish soup festival on the Dnieper! Fishing contests, team challenges, wood-cutting, and cozy fish farmsteads by the fire.
📍 Loev

Grodno Region 👇

19. LIDBEER
A legendary festival of food, music, fun, and good vibes — with food courts, chill zones, crafts, and big-name artists.
📍 Lida

20. SYRNY FESTIVAL (СЫРНЫЙ ФЕСТИВАЛЬ)
A major cheese festival in the historic royal city, usually held together with City Day. Tastings, chef masterclasses, and concerts.
📍 Grodno

21. IVYEVSKIY POMIDOR (ИВЬЕВСКИЙ ПОМИДОР)
A tomato festival featuring the spectacular tomato fight “Ivye-de-Tomateyro.”
📍 Ivye

22. BATSKAVA BULKA (БАЦЬКАВА БУЛКА)
A celebration of the famous braided bun with contests, exhibitions, and hands-on workshops.
📍 Svisloch

23. SVYATA VYANDLINY (СВЯТА ВЯНДЛІНЫ)
A regional festival of smoked meats and fish, giant vegetables, a sausage-eating challenge, tastings, kids’ attractions, and local lottery fun.
📍 Grodno District, ag. Koptyovka

24. SVYATA MLYNAROU (СВЯТА МЛЫНАРОЎ)
Held on St. Martin’s Day — the patron saint of millers. Includes parades, bread contests, tastings of baked goods, folk crafts, and evening dancing.
📍 Grodno District, ag. Odelsk

📸 Photo credit: Alfred Mikus

Belarus at “Intourmarket 2025. Winter” in Saint Petersburg

From December 12–14, 2025 Belarus is taking part in the international travel exhibition “Intourmarket 2025. Winter” at ExpoForum, Saint Petersburg.

More than 50 tourism professionals are representing Belarus at the National stand showcasing a wide range of travel opportunities. Visitors can explore well-known health resorts and hotels popular among Russian travelers, meet tour operators and tourist information centers, develop cooperation with regional authorities. Industrial and medical tourism facilities are also presenting their potential and services.

The National Tourism Agency of Belarus is unveiling a new national tourist map and a MICE tourism catalog. The Pripyatsky National Park invites travelers to immerse themselves in the wild landscapes of Polesie pristine lakes, forests, and rich biodiversity. The much-loved Braslav Lakes National Park offers a virtual tour of its eco-trails and tourist camps, while also presenting its infrastructure and spacial tourism programs for people with slow mobility.

Because of the Month of Gastronomic Tourism in Belarus special attention is given to gastronomy-focused travel routes. The Belarusian stand is traditionally decorated in the style of folk papercutting (vycinanka), creating a warm and authentic atmosphere.

Intourmarket is one of the leading international travel forums, long serving as a key platform for showcasing regional tourism potential and discussing industry development. Since 2025, the main exhibition has been held in Nizhny Novgorod, bringing together experts, tour operators, agencies, and media to shape the future of domestic and inbound tourism.

20 must-do things in Belarus this winter

1. Get warm by drinking crambambulya/medovuha /hrenovuha/ pomerantsevka, as landowners did in the past.
2. Take a photo of salt mountains in the city of Soligorsk at sunset.
3. Dance in a round on the authentic ritual holidays ‘Kalyadavanne’ (‘Going Christmas Caroling’) and ‘Gukanne vyasny’ (‘Spring Calling’).
4. Get familiar with a traditional vytinanka (crafts made of paper and cardboard) and shape something beautiful.
5. Taste candied cranberries.
6. Learn how to prepare a healing potion to an ancient recipe in the oldest operating drug store in Eastern Europe located in Grodno.
7. Taste traditional potato dishes of the Belarusian cuisine: draniki (potato pancakes), kolduny, babka, potato casseroles, etc.
8. Take a cup of coffee in the Chaim Soutine museum in Smilovichi, Minsk region – a friend of Modigliani and Picasso.
9. Try to solve the John F. Kennedy murder riddle looking into the windows of Lee Harvey Oswald’apartment in the Ploschad Pobedy area in Minsk.
10. Visit the ‘Belovezhskaya Pushcha’ National Park and ask the Belarusian Santa Clause about the secret of granting New Year’s wishes.
11. Eat sweets at the famous pastry shop ‘Lakomka’ (‘Sweet-Tooth’) on Prospekt Nezavisimosti (Independence Avenue) in Minsk.
12. Go ice-skating on one of the ice rinks in the city center.
13. Buy a Belarusian author’s book or a postcard with views of Belarus.
14. Learn what is ‘hot ice’ visiting a Dinamo-Minsk ice hockey game.
15. Understand the philosophy of the world famous artist Marc Chagall’s paintings in the city of Vitebsk.
16. Get warm having a cup of tea made with Belarusian field and forest herbs.
17. Connect with the Soviet era in the Memorial Museum-Workshop of the Belarusian Soviet sculptor Z.I. Azgur.
18. Make an angel in the snow.
19. Feel like a USSR citizen and go to a café-club ‘Tovarisch’ (‘Comrade’) in Minsk and the café ‘Staroye vremya’ (‘Old time’) in Gomel.
20. See Christmas installation “Kalyadny Kirmash” in Dana Mall trade centre.

We bet you will! Will you?

On photo: Belovezhskaya Puscha

Belarus won «Best International Destination» at the Russian Traveler Awards 2025! 🏆🇧🇾

We’re proud to share that Belarus has been named the Best International Destination following the results of the public vote at the prestigious Russian Traveler Awards 2025!

⚜️ Congratulations to everyone who helps make Belarusian tourism exciting and authentic — from local guides and hoteliers to cultural curators and creative minds shaping our travel experiences.

About the award:
The Russian Traveler Awards is a national travel prize by Russian Traveler Magazine which highlights the best in Russian regional tourism — from hotels and resorts to national cuisines, eco-routes and emerging destinations on the Russian's travel map.

✨Belarus continues to inspire travelers with its warmth, culture, and hospitality.

New culinary space “Art Vetka” opens on Red Square in Vetka

A brand-new creative culinary space “Art Vetka” has opened in the Belarusian town of Vetka right next to the famous Museum of Old Believers and Belarusian Traditions. Here visitors can take part in master classes on baking traditional Vetka gingerbread cookies (Vetkauski pernik) using wooden molds with authentic centuries-old carvings.

In Belarusian Vetka (not Vyatka) people didn’t bake large karavai wedding pies — they baked gingerbread! These treats followed a unique recipe rich in spices once considered luxury ingredients. Perhaps it’s time for a friendly “gingerbread battle” between Belarusian Vetka and Russia’s Tula — two sweet regions united by tradition and creativity!

☕️ Taste, Culture & Warmth
We couldn’t resist — and went straight to bake the famous pryaniki and enjoy a cup of “coffee z dUkhami”, the signature drink of the café, infused with soul and spices. You can also try herbal teas with thyme, mint, pear, and other flavors.
The host, Pyotr, is an ethnographer, chef, folk barista, researcher, and passionate admirer of Belarusian culture. His creative energy has transformed “Art Vetka” into a place that’s not just cozy and delicious but alive with stories, laugh, and the spirit of tradition.

🎨 A folk art atmosphere
Inside, you’ll find a space that feels both artistic and authentically Belarusian: handcrafted clay dishes by local artisans, traditional Neglyubka embroidery from the “Krosentsy” festival, vintage bedspreads, a rustic iron bed with embroidered pillows and even a private collection of folk style icons from the 19th century. Every corner tells a story — a living celebration of Vetka’s regional identity and charm.

🍯 Make your own Vetka gingerbread
Visitors can join masterclasses (for groups up to 40–50 people) to bake cookies in shapes inspired by local tradition — a horse (symbol of 2026), fish, groshyki, Polesian goats, folk bride and groom figures, and, of course, Vetka’s iconic tree.

The wooden molds are faithful replicas of historic gingerbread boards discovered in a museum in St. Petersburg. If you just want to relax, enjoy coffee or tea — the café seats up to 15 guests and welcomes families with children.

📍 Vetka, Gomel Region, Red Square, 1/1

What is traditional Belarusian cuisine like?

“Everything on the table was in abundance — food, drinks, laughter… the only thing missing was prymus!”
In old good Belarusian tradition “prymus” (or “prynuka”) meant the friendly insistence of the hosts that guests eat and drink heartily — a unique feature of local hospitality. During every meal after each dish was served, hosts would invite guests with the words: “Try this, dear friends! Help yourself, please!” If the hosts hadn’t “insist” enough people would later say: “The table was full of food and drinks but there was no prymus!”

The Basics of Belarusian Eating Traditions

Belarusians traditionally eat four times a day:
1. "Snyadanak" (breakfast)
2. "Paludzen" (lunch)
3. "Padvyachorak" (afternoon snack)
4. "Vyachera" (dinner)

There were also ritual and festive dishes prepared for weddings, christenings, harvests and religious holidays, and each region of Belarus developed its own distinctive recipes, flavors and serving traditions. Today 17 elements of traditional Belarusian food culture are officially included in the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Belarus from breadmaking and cheese crafting to festive meals and local beverages.

The Essence of Belarusian Cuisine
Traditional Belarusian dishes are based on flour, grains, vegetables, mushrooms, meat, dairy, fish and mild fermented drinks like kvas or medovukha (made from honey). Strong spirits existed too but they were more for celebration than daily nourishment.

Regional Flavors of Belarus

- Western Polesie
Buckwheat bread, pyshachki, paleshki, nalistniki (thin pancakes), tovkanytsa, prysypanka, makavukha (poppy dessert), baked and smoked sausages, krovyanka (blood sausage, also called kushanka or muchanka). Drinks: herbal teas with thyme, linden blossom, St. John’s wort, raspberry and strawberry leaves.
- Eastern Polesie
Soloniki, kryshani, gulyaki, potravka, smazhoniki, cyhany, beans “in shells,” potato dumplings, lazanki, lokshyna (homemade noodles). Drinks: bread kvas, fruit compote (vzvar), cranberry kisel, kulaga, vishnyak (cherry drink), birch sap.
- Ponemanye (Western Belarus)
Zatirka, potato golubtsy (cabbage rolls), bigos, kishka (potato-stuffed sausage), kvashanina (fermented meat stew), kumpyak (ham), polendvitsa (smoked pork), roast goose, podkolotka, bulbyaniki (potato patties), syrniki, klinovy syr (pressed cheese). Drinks: beet and bread kvas, birch and maple sap, kisel, whey, herbal teas, beer, homemade nalivka (fruit liqueur) and samahonka (moonshine).
- Central Belarus
Babka (gopa), vereshchaka, nateganka, kalatusha, rezniki, presnaki, lizyki, zhur, kholodnik (cold beet soup), kalduny (stuffed potato dumplings), kulaga, solodukha. Drinks: bread kvas, medovukha, berezovitsa (birch sap), tsurop, herbal teas.
- Podneprovye (Dnieper Region)
Klyotski (dumplings), komy, solodukha, kulesh, talaluy, dranka (grated potato cakes), tsupki, lopuny, fish dumplings. Drinks: berry kvas, honey drinks.
- Podvinye (Northern Belarus)
Polyvka (thick soup), sausages, tolchyoniki, klyotski z dushami (dumplings “with soul” — stuffed with meat), gulbishniki, ravhenya, kholodets (meat jelly), fish soup, polendvitsa. Drinks: herbal infusions, linden tea, medovukha, berka and klenovik (birch and maple sap drinks), cranberry kisel, cherry nalivka.

Culinary map of Belarus
Great news for food travelers: Belkartografia has published a detailed “Culinary Heritage Map of Belarus” where one can explore regional specialties their stories, and even locate gastrofests across the country. It’s a delicious way to discover Belarus — one bite at a time. Buy map here => shop.belkarta.by

Explore. Taste. Feel Belarus!

🇧🇾 Belarus showcases its tourism at TITF-2025 in Uzbekistan 🇺🇿

On November 27–29, 2025 the international tourism fair “Tourism on the Silk Road” (TITF-2025) is taking place in Tashkent bringing together hundreds of global travel professionals — and Belarus is proudly among the key participants.

The Belarusian delegation features The “Victoria” HoReCa chain, the Minsk Regional Department for Sports and Tourism, the Tourism Information Center “Region Mogilev” and open joint stock company “Minotel”. Together they are showcasing Belarus growing potential in cultural, ecological, medical, and business tourism.

A hub for global travel collaboration

Last year’s TITF in Tashkent drew over 1,500 participants and 13,500 visitors from 30 countries resulting in 8,000 signed agreements and more than 20,000 business meetings — a clear testament to the fair’s importance as a major catalyst for tourism development along the Great Silk Road.

In 2025 the event is expected to attract over 300 companies from across the world. The fair will also host an international cuisine championship, featuring 200 chefs from 30+ countries who will compete in a spectacular “Battle of Flavors.”

Innovation, Culture & Networking

This year’s “Media Campus” will serve as an interactive space for journalists, travel bloggers, and tourism marketing experts, fostering dialogue and creative exchange.
A series of forums and sessions will cover key tourism areas — aviation, education, ecology and pilgrimage travel with participation from leading international and local specialists.

Special emphasis is placed on B2B networking, roundtable discussions and showcases of tourism services and traditional crafts, opening new opportunities for partnership and promotion.

📍 CAEx, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
🗓 November 27–29, 2025

The miraculous Footprint Stone on Maryina Hill
Not far from the Monastery lies a revered site known as Maryina Hill, where faith, history and legend intertwine. This is where the Virgin Mary appeared three times to the people of the area.
The first time she quenched her thirst from a spring and continued toward the village of Dudichi. The second time she turned in the direction of Novoselki, and the third — before walking toward village Lyady — she rested upon a large stone leaving behind the imprint of her foot. According to the legend the hill has been called Holy Hill or Maryina Hill by the locals.

From pagan sanctuary to Christian shrine

Archaeologists and ethnographers have identified Maryina Hill as a small ancient settlement and pagan sanctuary dating back to the 6th–10th centuries. In pre-Christian times such elevated places were centers of spiritual rituals and worship, later often crowned with Christian chapels or crosses — symbols of faith overcoming time.

The miraculous Footprint Stone

At the heart of the site stands the Footprint Stone — a sacred boulder bearing the footprint of the Virgin Mary. According to local memory, in the late 1940s, one villager removed the stone and placed it into the foundation of his house. Shortly afterward the house burned down followed by the entire village. The frightened villagers retrieved the stone from the ashes and returned it to its original place.

Nearby stands an ancient stone cross. Locals say it began to “grow” from the ground in the 1960s — much like the famous Turov crosses. By the 1950s a rural cemetery had formed around the stone and cross, deepening the sacred aura of the place.

A place of prayer today

Today pilgrims and locals visit Maryina Hill to pray. In the early 2020s the hill was carefully restored: a small wooden canopy-chapel was built over the ancient relics with a memorial cross at its center. The project was initiated and carried out by artist Alexey Khatskevich one of the benefactors of the Monastery.
Now, the monks of the Monastery care for this sacred place, preserving its peaceful atmosphere and spiritual power.

📍 Minsk Region, Smolevichi District, near the village of Verkhlies (GPS: 53.767132, 28.0277)

The Annunciation Stavropegial Monastery in Malye Lyady: a place of faith, healing, and history

In the quiet village of Malye Lyady just outside Minsk stands the Annunciation Monastery — a sacred site with nearly three centuries of spiritual history. Founded in 1737 as a Basilian monastery by Count Khristofor Stanislav Zavisha voivode of Minsk. It was rebuilt (wooden) in gratitude for the miraculous healing of his wife Teresa Tyshkevich.

An uniate beginning

Originally the monastery belonged to the Basilian Order part of what was known as the Uniate (Greek Catholic) Church — a Christian tradition that follows Eastern Orthodox liturgy and ritual, but is in communion with the Roman Catholic Church. It blended Byzantine spirituality with Catholic theology and played an important role in Belarus religious history.

The first wooden monastery housed a miraculous icon of the Mother of God, a copy of the famous Zhirovichi icon, donated by Teresa Tyshkevicz herself. The icon was painted by Vasiliy Stefanovich an 80-year-old iconographer from Minsk and master of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra school.

To sustain the monastery Teresa’s son, count Ignatius Zavisha donated 2 villages, an opportunity to a grain mill and 4,000 Polish zlotyh. Another benefactor, Marcibella Oginskaya, also contributed generously: donating 14,000 zlotyh and granting the monastery rights to hold holiday fairs, which became a major source of income.

A place of learning and faith

In 1794 the Zavisha’s sponsored the construction of a stone church followed by a stone monastery building in 1850. By the early 19th century the monastery hosted a charitable almshouse and a four-class theological and secular school (opened in 1809), where children of clergy and nobles studied.

Later the school was reorganized under the Holy Synod and the monastery became Orthodox in 1837 marking its peaceful return to the Eastern faith. The transition was calm and harmonious thanks to the wisdom of the abbot Hieromonk Pius Mayevsky.

Trials and renewal

In the Soviet era (in 1920th) the monastery was closed and monks were expelled. The church briefly continued as a parish temple until 1939, after it was turned into a school and later a warehouse. The icon of the Mother of God — once its greatest treasure — had been lost during those years.

Despite decades of silence, the spirit of the place endured.
In 1992 the church reopened. By 1994 the men’s monastery was reestablished.

In 2011 the monastery received a precious gift from Vatopedi Monastery on Mount Athos — an exact copy of the miraculous icon “Joy and Consolation” presented by Archimandrite Ephraim himself.

The Monastery today

Today the Annunciation Stavropegial Men’s Monastery is a functioning Orthodox monastery known for its baroque architecture, serene atmosphere and profound spiritual energy. The ancient church and living quarters retain their historical form, offering visitors peace, reflection, and a sense of timeless grace.

📍 4A Tsentralnaya Street, Malye Lyady, Smolevichi District, Minsk Region

🎨 The Chaim Soutine Museum “Space of Soutine” — where the artist’s story comes home

In the quiet town of Smilovichi just outside Minsk the “Space of Chaim Soutine” Museum tells the extraordinary story of one of the great masters of the Paris School — from his humble Belarusian beginnings to international fame.

Born on January 13, 1893 in a large Jewish tailor’s family Chaim Soutine showed artistic passion from a young age, much to the disapproval of his religious parents. With no support and no prospects, he made a life-changing decision: he sold his only possession, his future — exchanging his engagement for the money to buy a one-way ticket to Paris.

In Paris he lived for years like a starving artist yet his genius couldn’t stay unnoticed. Soutine’s talent was discovered and fame found him while he was alive. Today his paintings are valued in the tens of millions of dollars. Only a few of his original works remain in Belarus — “Eve” (1928), “Large Meadows in Chartres, Near the Viaduct” (1934), and “Sleeping Reader, Madeleine Castaing” (1937).

Inside the museum

The museum isn’t just a collection. It’s an immersive journey through stories, emotions, and moments of the artist’s life. Visitors will find:
— interactive exhibits and replicas of his works
— a vast library about Soutine and the era of the École de Paris
— a Parisian café corner “La Rotonde” styled after Soutine’s favorite haunt in Montparnasse — where you can sit with a cup of coffee, listen to art lectures and imagine the vibrant life of 1920s Paris.

The Tsarfin Hall

The museum also honors another native of Smilovichi — Faibish-Schraga Tsarfin, a fellow artist of the Paris School born seven years after Soutine. Childhood friends they both dreamed through drawing:
“When we were children,” Tsarfin recalled, “he (Soutine) would draw on his parents’ walls, and I — in my father’s accounting books. Chaim loved painting portraits; I was obsessed with firefighters and their shiny helmets.”

They reunited in Paris in the 1920s their friendship enduring amidst the artistic whirlwind of Montparnasse.

Tsarfin went on to become a painter, textile designer, illustrator, and poet. Today, his art is brought to life again — his paintings are printed on silk scarves, created with exquisite precision, making them a perfect artistic souvenir from Belarus for connoisseurs of fine art.

📍 20 Revolutsionnaya Street, Smilovichi, Cherven District, Minsk Region