Penza, 6 June 2019. PenzaNews. A festival of poetry dedicated to the 220th anniversary of the birth of Alexander Pushkin and the Day of the Russian Language was held in the public garden named after the great Russian poet and writer on Thursday, June 6.

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The celebration began with laying flowers to the bust of Alexander Pushkin. Obeisance to the classical writer was paid by mayor Victor Kuvaytsev, his deputies Sergei Volkov and Vladimir Popkov, deputy head of Penza Ivan Krasnov.

Then, poet Lidia Terekhina addressed the audience noticing that she had been introduced to the heritage of Alexander Pushkin in the childhood in a form of fairy tales. She cited her poems inspired by poet's work "The Tale of the Bast" and "The Beginning of the Russian Language".

In turn, minister of culture and tourism of the Penza region Tatyana Kurdova noted that the works of the poet and writer remained relevant despite the time that had passed since their creation.

"Pushkin is considered to be the ancestor of our Russian language, which is spoken by people of the 21 century," she said.

Professor Gennady Gorlanov, a lecturer of the Department of Literature and Methods of Teaching Literature of Penza Belinsky Pedagogical Institute under Penza State University also took the floor and read his poems.