MOSCOW, August 21. /TASS/. Young people from 155 countries have submitted applications to attend the World Youth Festival, which will be held on March 1-7, 2024 in Sochi, Federal Agency for Youth Affairs (Rosmolodezh) head Ksenia Razuvaeva said.

"We summarized the interim results a few days ago; as of today, [young people from] 155 countries have already applied, the youth of these countries have applied for the World Youth Festival in Sochi, and we expect that the number of countries will grow even more; we are focusing on roughly 180 countries that are expected to participate. And we see that this figure is absolutely achievable, because the interest is really great," she told the Rossiya-24 TV news channel.

Razuvaeva stressed that security at the festival will be provided by top specialists. "Here we see no problems, the best forces, the best specialists, the composition of the festival's directorate, the organizing committee, called for the event to be held with the highest possible quality and safety," she said, pointing out that the issue of security has not been a deterrent for young people when applying to attend the festival.

Russia will host the World Youth Festival (WYF) in 2024, by decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin, in order to develop international youth cooperation. The festival will be held at the Sirius Federal Center in Sochi on March 1-7, 2024. The WYF regional program will take place on March 10-17, 2024, with participants visiting 30 Russian cities.