Eleventh “Faces of Friends” festival to open

Fifteen young singers from Moldova, Romania, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and Belgium will take part in the eleventh international music festival “Faces of Friends” that will take place in Cahul town on July 17 and 18, Info-Prim Neo reports. A jury consisting of seven members representing the participating countries will assess the competitors, the festival's director Serghei Orlov told a news conference. The participants will sing by a song from the national and international repertoires. The Top Prize of the contest is €1,000. The winner of the first place will receive €750. €500 will be given for the second place and €300 for the third place. Founded as a meeting of former and current singers from Cahul in 1996, the festival became over time a real holiday for the entire country and a launchpad for young talents, say the organizers. The event is organized by the Creation Association “Festival”, the Creation Agency “Echinox” and Orange Moldova. The beer company Baltica is among the sponsors. The mobile-phone carrier Orange has allocated half a million lei for organizing the festival. During the two days of the festival, mobile teams will collect money to help the flood victims from Cahul.