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Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty
Henry M. Robert

The Holiday is European, but Culture is Ours

21 September, 1999 - 00:00

“Long live Lviv (Mykolayiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, Poltava, Chernihiv...) beer! Hurrah!!!” chanted beer fans columns on September 11, proudly raising motley flags above the sunny alleys of the National Exhibition Center. The lucky ones, who were just in time in the morning to gulp down free beer at the winding up Sixth Beer and Soft Drinks Industry exhibition, poured into the beer fest (see photo), which was crowning the event. The merrymaking was foaming, boiling up, and gathered degrees. It was that blessed hour when the access to the heady moisture, amber breams and salted peanuts, fried sausages and pizza was, just as open as to the precious WC abbreviation.

On the festive stage, decorated with the life-asserting “Ukrainian Beer is True Beer!” and the inviting “Hey, girls, come to us for beer and deruny [potato pancakes]!” suddenly appeared Valery Leontyev, then Alla Borisovna Pugacheva, followed by Virka Serdiuchka. Those already initiated into mysteries of the invigorating beverage came closer to the performers: “No, the face is different. But the beer is real”.

“Certain participants of this playful feast — and it is mostly young people and students who are having a good time — will not recognize themselves by night”, reported senior sergeants from the police security regiment Vitaly and Roman.

“Last year there were only fisticuffs though. It seemed to us that beer is even more aggressive than vodka”, related they their observations to us.

“It's a capital fest, — said in chorus of students, members of the Merry and Smart Club [a popular televised contest between CIS student teams], representing the Rohan Brewery. — It's a good gathering, with (thus far) well-behaved people. It's an occasion to enjoy life. Do the upcoming presidential elections tell on beer consumption? Well, as people say, you won't be able to perceive it without a pint. But when voting, one should be sober-minded,” the merry and smart are convinced.

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