About the festival "Cranes and Cranberries of the Miory Region"

         Since 2012, the ecological festival "Cranes and Cranberries of the Miory Region" has been held annually in September in the Miory District.

         The timing of the festival is not accidental: it is in September that the cranberry harvesting season begins here, and the Yalnya bog holds the first place in Belarus in terms of these berries. In addition, the Miory District annually hosts over 35,000 common cranes and tens of thousands of geese of various species, which stop to rest at the Yalnya bog during their autumn migration. It is about berries and birds – as unique features of the Miory Region – that the local residents talk about. Over the years, tens of thousands of guests, including those from far abroad, have visited the Miory District.

            This year, the traditional festival "Cranes and Cranberries of the Miory Region" was held on September 23 in Miory.

             The ecological festival kicked off as early as September 13, with the cranberry harvesting competition "Taste of Cranberry" among trade union organizations of the labor collectives of the Miory District. The Miory District Inspectorate of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection also took part in this competition. Also, on the eve of the main celebration day, an environmental week was held in the district's educational institutions from September 18 to 23, a meeting with young specialists who arrived in the district, a meeting of the "Crane Trail" young family club at the visitor center of the "Yalnya" state environmental institution, and a skills competition for car enthusiasts among young people called "Crane Drive".

              September 23, the main day of the festival, was also packed with various events, including those with an ecological theme. The ecological festival "Cranes and Cranberries of the Miory Region" was combined with the 2023 harvest campaign and with the patriotic education of the population, which gave the celebrations a special meaning and resonance.

               On this day, a solemn wedding ceremony "Cranberry Wedding" was held at the registry office of the district executive committee. A rally was held on Lenin Square in the district center, dedicated to honoring the rural workers who took part in the 2023 harvest campaign "Dazhynki", with the laying of flowers at the memorial sign to the liberator soldiers of Miory from the Nazi invaders; a solemn procession of rally participants along the route: Lenin Square – Kommunisticheskaya Street – Kirova Street – Izvarina Street – city park "Poluostrov".

               The opening of the regional competition of song and music ensembles "Zhuravlіny zvon" and the regional interactive exhibition-competition of arts and crafts "Ptushyny perapalokh" took place on the peninsula. An exhibition of ecological literature "Zhuravel-asvietnik", a competition of farmsteads of the Miory district "Zhuravlіny kirmaš", awarding of the best workers of the district who took part in the 2023 harvest campaign, awarding of the winners of the district landscaping competition, winners of the rural farmstead competition, winners of the cranberry collection competition, best cranberry suppliers, winners of the regional competition of song and music ensembles "Zhuravlіny zvon", and the regional interactive exhibition-competition of arts and crafts "Ptushyny perapalokh" were held. The interactive platform "Zhuravlіnaya pochta" was operating, where thematic postcards were sent.

            Many guests visited the festival, celebrating Yelnya with its high and transitional bogs, where tens of thousands of cranes find temporary shelter and useful cranberries ripen.

           Every hour, a bus provided free transportation for festival guests to the swamp, where they could observe migratory birds. This was part of the open day at the visitor center of the state environmental institution "Yelnya". In addition to exciting bird encounters, festival guests could participate in environmental games, purchase souvenirs made by local artisans as mementos of the festival, and also try cranberry juice, various cranberry sweets, and buy these berries for future use. Master classes were held on preparing dishes with cranberries, traditional folk crafts, and the production of eco-souvenirs.

             Many interesting activities were prepared for children with the aim of their environmental education. The festival concluded with a themed disco "Crane Dance Floor".

              During the same period, extensive work was carried out to widely publicize, prepare, and conduct the festival in the media and on the internet.