2010 Programs and Events
Embassy Holds Last Ambasovishcha Music Festival at Ambassador’s Residence in Raubichi
Chargé d’Affaires Michael Scanlan speaks at the opening of Ambasovishcha 2010
On July 27, 2010, the U.S. Embassy held its sixth annual festival of Belarusian music at the Ambassador’s residence in Raubichi. Attended by several hundred musicians and guests, the festival was once again a wonderful celebration of freedom of artistic expression and appreciation of rich Belarusian talent. Playing at Ambasovishcha—the name the festival received from its very outset—were six Belarusian bands and a special guest from the United States, a band called “The Bishops” from the state of Nebraska.
Full of wonderful moments and uplifting performances, this year’s Ambasovishcha was the last one to be held at the U.S. Ambassador’s residence in Raubichi. Speaking at the opening of the festival, Chargé d’Affaires Michael Scanlan regretted that the tradition was being broken, as the U.S. Embassy will release the residence which has been without an occupant for over two years. In 2008, the Belarusian authorities placed a limit on the number of American diplomats allowed in the country forcing the U.S. Ambassador and thirty other American diplomats to leave.
At the end of the festival, Michael Scanlan released a dove as a symbol of hope that Ambasovishcha, which has long been adopted by Belarusians as their own, would find its new home.