On December 5, we had a Festival "Wreath of Friendship" organized by the Jewish community of Almaty, under the support of the People Assembly of Kazakhstan and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic. It was cold outside but it was warm and nice in the chamber hall of the National Korean Theater of Musical Comedy. On the eve of the Independence Day of Kazakhstan, children and adults from fifteen ethno-cultural centers participated in the Concert featuring ethnical songs and dances of our country.

The distinguished guests greeted the audience including the Head of the Secretariat of the People Assembly of Kazakhstan in Almaty Alia Tursumuratova, Deputy Chairman of the People Assembly of Kazakhstan Akhmetzhan Shardinov, Chief Specialist of the Internal Policy Department of Almaty Shalibek Kaunbaev, Chairman of the Azerbaijani Ethno-cultural Association Aiwaz Mamedgasanov, Vice President of Social Consortium Public Fund under the People Assembly of Kazakhstan Afanasiy Kim, Chairman of the Association of Tajik Organizations "Somoniyon" Saidmurod Sharifov.

Alia Tursumuratova, "It is cold outside but our children are here. They look so festive and beautiful. The bad weather did not frighten them away. Many thanks to all the organizers. More than a dozen of ethnic and cultural centers and their leaders are present here today - we are together! Let our children always have such a wonderful opportunity - to meet the Independence Day by participating in the concert. Long live our thriving Kazakhstan and may the holiday continue!"

Akhmetzhan Shardinov, "The Festival of Friendship will certainly live up to its name and there will be no losers today. The peace, beauty, and the state will win. This week was triumphant for our people. OSCE Summit attended by fifty-six country-members was held in Astana. This was made possible thanks to our independence. I want to congratulate you on the coming holiday!"

The jury consisted of representatives of the Assembly: The General Director of the Public Fund "Ethnos-Forum" Gabit Nuradil, Chairman of the Almaty Oblast Greeks Community "Eleftheria" Georgiy Iordanidi, Chairman of the Jewish Ethno-cultural Association Alexander Arepyev; Children's Advocacy Center represented by Turlybaeva; Russian Center - Tatiana Trubacheva; Karachay-Balkar Center - Arthur Oganesyan and Mustafir Babayev; Uygur Center - Mastahunova; Ukrainian Center - Ludmila Turehanova.

The concert started with a Kazakh dance performed by the group "Yonati" from the JCC "Rimon". A distinguished participant of the festival was an amateur folklore-ethnographic ensemble "Mingi Tau" from the Karachay-Balkar Cultural Center. Recently they performed in Astana at the OSCE summit and won the title of the best amateur dancing group in Kazakhstan. Girls from the ensemble "Birlik" of the ALL-Kazakhstan Human-Rights Center showed some folk dances including Kazakh, Tajik, and Khorezm. Young Korean girls from the ensemble "Bidulgi" fascinated the audience with mystical whirling of their folk dresses "hanbok". Spectators were thrilled by the tiny girls performing the dance "Dolls". The audience highly appreciated the Uyghur Ensemble "Diyaraba", its dances showed respect for traditions, the work of farmers, and humor. The Group "Yonati" showed a bright, catchy "Hassidic dance". It was a new dance of our community members full of life-affirming energy of the Hasids.

The Greek community presented the duet "Rada and Janis" The duet charmed the listeners with an elegant performance of several songs in their native language. Folklore Ensemble "Zori Semirechya" presented song culture of the Russian people. Accordion and rattles sounded very cheerfully in the capable hands of the musicians. The choir "Ukraine" is a tireless promoter of the native language and songs definitely help to fulfill this mission. "Zori Semirechya" and "Ukraine" pleasantly surprised the audience with their "adult" singers. As one of the judges Georgiy Iordanidi said, "I envy you in a good way. When we are close to retirement age, we always want to find something interesting to do. It is great that you already did it!"

It is time to summarize results. It was a difficult task for the jury but no one was left without a prize. The best in dancing was Karachay-Balkar ensemble "Mingi Tau" and among the singing groups the best was the Greek duet "Rada and Janis". Diplomas and prizes were awarded to all participants without any exception. When all participants were standing on the stage, we were thinking that people do need such holidays.

Director of Hesed "Polina" Inessa Chugainova thanked all the guests and participants of the concert. Special thanks to Director General of "Ethnos-forum" Gabit Nuradilu and Chairman of the Greek society "Eleftheria" Georgiy Iordanidi for their friendly support and involvement in preparing the event.

It is symbolic that the Jewish community gathered everybody for the festival on December 5 - during the Jewish holiday of lights - Hanukkah. A special lamp is lit for eight Days - Hanukkah. And folk popular culture also brings its own light...

Ludmila Starodubova