Apart from tasting delicious wine, visitors of this year’s Tivesh Young Wine Festival also had the opportunity to donate money to help open a free music and art school for children from underprivileged backgrounds.

The festival was held in its 9th edition in Kavadarci, and after a very successful year - a record 28.000.000 kg of grapes were harvested, a brand new wine introduced and the company also extended its business activity to France, by purchasing winery there.

As part of their social responsibility program, Tikvesh has previously encouraged festival goers to donate for a cause of social importance, and as a reward they would get a bottle of wine. The total of donations this year came to EUR 2,483 (MKD 154,000), and the financial support was meant for the special project run by the Association for Human and Social Development Project Happiness (Проект среќа).

The Association is run by citizens volunteering their time and efforts to create a better society for all. Some of their efforts include activities related to supporting socially vulnerable groups, promoting a healthy lifestyle and environmental preservation, raising awareness on certain issues, events related to culture, sports, art, and developing social responsibility with individuals and businesses alike.

Their latest project entitled Guitar, Keys and Gigs (Гитара, дирки и свирки) concerns the opening of a music and art school for children from underprivileged backgrounds. With several initiatives aimed at providing essentials for these children such as food, hygiene products, and school equipment, few of them are concerned with helping children develop fine skills, such as playing an instrument or painting.

This is of course of no small significance considering that engaging with the arts has been proven to be beneficial for the emotional and intellectual development of children.

The school project is new this year, but with members of the association constantly seeking support from fellow citizens and organization, the school is set to open in  2019.