The competitive programme of the qualifying stage of the All-Russian festival-competition of amateur creative teams in Volga and Ural Federal Districts has ended in Chuvashia. It was held in the Traditions nomination and united fourteen teams from nine Russian regions. The creative team with SSU students became one of the winners.

The folk-dance group entitled Varenka was among the participants of the festival representing Saratov Region. It consists of students – members of the SSU Student Club: Ekaterina Kuzmenyuk (the Faculty of Geology), Anastasia Bulgakova (the Faculty of Mathematics and Mechanics), Ilya Yesin, Kirill Kashigin, and Askar Sitkaliyev (the Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technologies), Polina Aleksyunina (the Institute of Physics), Anna Chernysheva (the Faculty of Psychological, Pedagogical, and Special Needs Education), and Elena Sakharova (the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Language Teaching Methods).

Opening the event, Tamara Purtova, Director of the State Russian House of Folk Art named after V.D. Polenov, made a welcoming speech. ‘For the fifth year, we have been implementing the Culture national project. In this anniversary year, we have received 278 applications and chosen 60. The best of the best are here, and, therefore, it will be very difficult for the jury. My dear participants, I thank you for being able to come!’

The finalists of the contest presented the traditions of the peoples of Urals and Volga Districts on the main stage of the Chuvash Republic. The concert audience saw a variety of traditional choreography, unique costumes, fragments of national rituals, and heard folk songs.

According to the results of the performances, five winners of the qualifying stage of the festival-competition were determined, who received certificates for 2 million roubles, including the folk-dance group entitled Varenka was awarded in the Folk Team nomination. By the decision of the jury, it was awarded the title of Prize-Winner of the All-Russian Festival-Competition of Amateur Creative Teams and a grant from the Culture national project in Volga Federal District.

The founder of the festival is the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. Its organiser is the State Russian House of Folk Art named after V.D. Polenov. The organiser of the zonal stage is the Ministry of Culture, Nationalities, and Archives of the Chuvash Republic and the Tractor Builders House of Culture of the Chuvash Ministry of Culture of Chuvashia.

The festival-competition is aimed at preserving the intangible cultural heritage of the peoples of Russia and supporting creative initiatives that promote self-expression and self-fulfilment of different groups of population, primarily talented children, and youth.