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The first festival of the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC)’s cultures will be held in Minsk in May 2009, Belarusian Culture Minister Uladzimir Matvyaychuk told reporters in Minsk on 21 October.

Delegations of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, the six member countries of the Community, will participate in the festival, Mr. Matvyaychuk said. "This will be a very large creative gathering," he noted.

Belarus holds a large number of national-level contests and festivals, Mr. Matvyaychuk said. According to him, the number is to be cut to 50 in 2009, down from 147 in 2007 and 60 in 2008, BelaPAN reported.

The 65th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in the 1941-45 Great Patriotic War will be the main focus of the cultural events in 2009 and 2010, Mr. Matvyaychuk said.