The 17th edition of the Republican Festival of Ethnicities, entitled “Unity through Diversity”, took place on 16 September in the Public Garden Stefan cel Mare si Sfant in Chisinau. The event was organized by the Bureau of Interethnic Relations.
About 75 ethno-cultural organizations, representing 30 ethnicities, as well as numerous artistic groups including from districts participated in the Festival. The Republican Festival of Ethnicities started with laying flowers at the Stefan cel Mare monument, after which, in the Public Garden, the official opening of the event took place.
Throughout the day, thematic concerts, visitation of the ethnic courts, exhibitions of decorative and applied art, fine arts and crafts took place. Representatives of ethnicities also presented their national cuisine. Thus, the Moldovans and Ukrainians, the Russians and the Belarussians, the Gagauzians and the Bulgarians, the Roms and the Jews, the Poles and the Germans, the Lithuanians and the Estonians, the Greeks and the Armenians and many other ethnicities represented the specifics and values of the country, and all of them shared the diversity of the European cultural heritage.
The purpose of the Republican Festival of Ethnicities is the use and perpetuation of the national traditions of minorities as well as the development of the intercultural dialogue, strengthening the relations of friendship between representatives of different nationalities living on the territory of the Republic of Moldova.
The State Agency for Intellectual Property (AGEPI) participated in the event with an informational stand, where the visitors of the festival were able to familiarize themselves with the national intellectual property system, as well as the importance of protecting the intellectual property objects.