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World Youth Festival carnival parade kick starts in Moscow

Earlier, the organizers told TASS that 35,000 Russian students and 450 delegates from around the world would take part in the parade

MOSCOW, October 14. /TASS/. Delegations of the 19th World Festival of Youth and Students have begun a carnival parade in Moscow, a TASS correspondent reported at the scene.

Earlier, the organizers told TASS that 35,000 Russian students and 450 delegates from around the world would take part in the parade. The procession will cover eight kilometers, starting near the Kremlin, in Vasilyevsky Slope - an extension of Red Square leading down towards the Moskva River - and walking further on along the embankments to the Luzhniki sports compound where a gala show will follow.

Delegations of the participating countries are heading the procession, waving national flags. They are followed by young people who remake parades of the World Festivals of Youth and Students of 1957 and 1985 held in Moscow. Floats are decorated as a blend of the most typical features of the world’s greatest festivals and carnivals, from those of Rio de Janeiro to Venice.

Officials in charge of youth affairs from more than 70 countries hit Moscow streets to take part in the carnival as well. A Russian band are marching at the tail of the procession.

Russia hosts the 19th World Festival of Youth and Students on October 14-22. The official opening and main events will take place in Sochi’s Olympic Park on October 15-22.

Taking part in the forum would be more than 20,000 young men and women, including 10,000 foreigners. Nearly 180 countries applied for participation.

During the first days of the festival 2,000 foreign guests will tour 15 regions of Russia under an unprecedented regional program.

Moscow hosted two world festivals - in 1957 and 1985. The 6th World Festival of Youth and Students in 1957 was the largest-ever, with 34,000 young men and women from 100 countries taking part.

The Russian news agency TASS is the festival’s general information partner and official photo host.