MOSCOW, February 29. /TASS/. The World Youth Festival (WYF) will be held on March 1-7, 2024, in the federal territory of Sirius, Krasnodar Region, in far southern Russia. TASS has compiled the key facts about the festival.
Initiative to hold festival
On January 25, 2023, at a meeting with university students, Russian President Vladimir Putin supported a proposal by Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN) student Darya Semyonova to hold a festival in Russia similar to the World Festival of Youth and Students (WFYS) that took place in Sochi in 2017. Then, Russia was the host country for the festival, which has been held since the end of the Second World War at the initiative of the World Federation of Democratic Youth and the International Union of Students. Before Russia took its turn as host of the WFYS in 2017, it was held on two occasions in the USSR, in 1957 and 1985.
In late January 2023, Putin instructed the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs (Rosmolodezh) to develop and present, jointly with the Russian ministries of Education and of Science and Higher Education, a conceptual framework for holding the festival in Russia.
On April 5, 2023, the Russian head of state signed a decree on holding the World Youth Festival in Russia in 2024 "in order to further develop international youth cooperation." This presidential decree also established the festival's steering committee led by Presidential Administration First Deputy Chief of Staff Sergey Kiriyenko.
World Youth Festival (WYF)
The first World Youth Festival, initiated by Russia, will be held on March 1-7, 2024, in the federal territory of Sirius, which is located in the Imereti Lowlands near Sochi, Krasnodar Region, on the Black Sea coast in far southern Russia. In addition to the main program, regional events are also planned with festival attendees expected to visit about 30 Russian cities on March 10-17.
Rosmolodezh is the festival’s organizer. The WYF’s general partners are nationwide financial services provider Sber and social media platform VK, while the Russian Znanie (Knowledge) society is the general partner of the educational program. TASS is one of the event’s general information partners. About 5,000 volunteers have been recruited for the event and the festival will be covered by reporters from 36 countries.
Rosmolodezh Head Kseniya Razuvayeva said that one of the festival’s goals was to create a platform for establishing and fostering ties between "concerned young people from across the planet." According to her, the festival will become "the capital of the just future world where respect for each other, and for the values and cultures of different countries and peoples will matter the most."
The logo of WYF-2024 depicts human figures in an open circle. It symbolizes people being united by a common dream: the wish to live in a world where everyone can remain themselves with the future being open to everyone.
Festival participants, program
The application campaign for the World Youth Festival kicked off on the Day of Youth, June 24, 2023.
WYF-2024 will be attended by 20,000 young people (10,000 from Russia and 10,000 from more than 180 countries) who are active in the fields of business, media, international cooperation, culture, science, education, volunteering and charity, sports, and various other areas of public life. Additionally, 500 Russian and 500 foreign children aged 14-17 will participate in a special program run by the Talent and Success Foundation (organized by the Russia-wide Sirius educational center).
During the festival, the grounds of Olympic Park in Sirius will be transformed into World Youth City. Medal Square (to be dubbed "the Soul of Russia" for the duration of the festival) will be the main site of festival events, with individual venues titled Moscow, Belgorod Region, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod and Yamal hosting educational programs conducted by the Znanie society.
The WYF will feature a diverse range of educational, scientific, cultural and sporting events. Festival guests can participate in workshops, discussions and panel sessions, as well as go on walking tours, bus and boat excursions, and attend concerts and talk shows with well-known actors, among other activities.
The Knowledge First educational marathon on March 2-6 will be one of the festival’s main events. The Znanie society will also offer informative lectures on various aspects of cinema. The Sirius educational center together with the Movement of the First, a Russian children’s and youth group, will hold a special program for children called Let’s Start the Future Together. On March 2-3, the Sochi racetrack will hold phygital races within the framework of the Games of the Future international multi-sports event.
Festival website
The address of the World Youth Festival website is https://fest2024.ru/.