Cultural life of Brest Oblast

There are 1,158 state-run institutions of culture and art in Brest Oblast that are designed to develop talents, skills and interests of local residents. They include 536 hobby clubs, 538 libraries, 61 cinemas, 19 museums, 8 parks, 3 theaters, a philharmonic society, 3 colleges of art and 87 schools of art.

There are a total of 4,127 hobby clubs in the region, including 2,272 children’s clubs, 292 ‘people’s’ ensembles, 91 ‘exemplary’ ensembles and 8 ‘honored’  amateur ensembles of the Republic of Belarus.

A study suggests that more than 40% of local residents regularly use the services of institutions of culture and art.

In 2022 an estimated 235,500 people visited museums, 385,500 people borrowed books from libraries, more than 142,000 spectators saw theater performances and other shows, 40,000 people attended hobby clubs, and over 1 million people went to the cinema.

The cultural life of the region is very diverse. It includes celebrations of public and folk holidays, city days and days of villages, as well as honoring of veterans, best workers, family dynasties, and artisans.

A network of mobile institutions of culture has been created to deliver services to residents of remote and thinly populated areas, a total of more than 500 settlements.

Regional plein-airs of artists, sculptors and artisans are held annually. Since 2008, the International Plein Air of Potters has been held in the village of Gorodnaya, Stolin District.

The region’s festival program features the international classical music festival January Music Nights, the international theater festival Belaya Vezha, the national festival of Belarusian films, the international festival of wind music Fanfares, the regional pop music festival Rhythms of Youth, theater festival Theatrical Polesie, veterans’ creativity festival Restless Hearts, regional folklore festival Voices of Polesie, spiritual music festival Sing To Our God, the harvest festival Dazhynki.

The region boasts a rich historical and cultural heritage that includes more than 2,000 monuments of architecture, archeology and history, of which over 760 are inscribed on the State List of Historical and Cultural Values of the Republic of Belarus.