On the first weekend of September 2022, Belarusians from the United States and Canada met in the historic heart of Belarusian America — the Belarusian Centre in South River, New Jersey. It was here, on the very soil where the memory of the zmagars has been kept for decades, that the 34th gathering of Belarusians in North America took place.

South River is not just an address. It is a place where, since the post-war years, the heart of the Belarusian diaspora has beat. Here stands the Church of Saint Euphrosyne; here is the Belarusian cemetery; here is a monument to those who fought for Belarus’s freedom. And it is here, time and again, that Belarusians from both sides of the Atlantic come together to speak of the homeland, of the future, and of what it means to be Belarusian far from home.

As long as we are together — Belarus lives in our hearts

2022 was a special year — the world was changing, and with it the role of the diaspora. After the historic protests of 2020, Belarusians abroad became a voice for their people on the world stage. Each such meeting is not merely a convention; it is an act of resistance to forgetting, a living bond between generations of emigrants and the new wave of Belarusians who left their country in search of freedom.

3–4 September 2022
South River, New Jersey
Venue: Belarusian Centre · 284 Whitehead Ave, South River, NJ 08882

284 Whitehead Ave, South River, NJ — every Belarusian in America knows this address. History is preserved here. The future is forged here. This gathering is part of a great tradition that has not broken for decades. And as long as we meet, as long as the Belarusian word is spoken, as long as this living thread between us burns — Long live Belarus!