The World Youth Festival, which took place from March 1 to March 7 in the federal territory of Sirius in Sochi, has come to an end. On March 8-9, the SSU students who joined the delegation of the participants from the region returned to Saratov with vivid impressions and unforgettable emotions. The delegation was headed by Chair of the Youth Policy Committee of the region Angelina Belovitskaya. The Saratov youth managed to attend technological shows and concerts, meetings with politicians, scientists, athletes, theatre and film actors, musicians, television stars, as well as lectures as part of the marathon Knowledge.The First.
The grand final show of the World Youth Festival took place on March 6 at the Art.Youth Mall. The closing ceremony was called the Bonfire Story of the Future.
The main event of that day was the address of the Russian President Vladimir Putin to the participants of the festival. ‘We wanted to create the environment of freedom, creativity, and friendship that would allow you to communicate with each other, find new friends, and maybe partners for your future projects,’ Vladimir Putin said.
The concert of the farewell show successfully combined the items by original performers with national features and by popular domestic performers. Songs in Chinese, Arabic, Spanish, and Hindi were played from the stage. The headliners of the show were L'one, Klava Koka, Sergei Lazarev, the Dabro band, and others. In the end, the unifying song How Beautiful This World Is, was performed by the audience together with the choir.
‘This is my first international event of this scale, which has attracted so many foreign youth. I am sure that all the participants were happy to become a part of the City of the World's Youth. I have met new people here, gained interesting knowledge, I was able to plunge into the warmth of the city of Sochi again and fulfil my dream of seeing the president!’ Vladislav Bykov, Chair of the Council of Undergraduates and Postgraduates, SSU, said.
On March 3, at the main square of Sirius, the Soul of Russia, the participants sang hits with the bands TheHatters, Uma2rman, Dabro, as well as performers Anet Sai, Katya Lel, and Ramil'. At the Art.Youth international mall, there was the opening of the fair, where local brands of the country and novice designers presented their products.
At the Knowledge.The First marathon, the students of Saratov State University attended an open discussion with the authors of the Vovan and Lexus channel, a blogger Sasha Stone, and a singer Vanya Dmitriyenko. The IBA Champions Night was held at the sports centre in the evening. Some students managed to get to a lecture on AI technologies with German Gref, Chair of the Board of Sberbank PJSC. The day ended on Soul of Russia Square to the hits of the bands My Michelle and NILETTO.
On March 4, the delegation met with Chair of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitrii Medvedev and the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov. During the day, the students were able to see a famous scholar Tatyana Chernigovskaya, a Serbian film director Emir Kusturica, an Olympic figure skating champion Roman Kostomarov, a stand-up comedian Nurlan Saburov, a blogger Valya Karnaval, and a figure skater Alina Zagitova at the events of the festival. ST, Khabib, Ivanushki int., IOWA, and CreamSoda sang on the main stage for the festival.
On March 5, the morning show with singers MIABOYKA and Vanya Dmitriyenko began for the SSU students. Meetings were organised with actors Milos Bikovic, Sergei Bezrukov, and a singer Olga Buzova.
‘I'm glad that there were a lot of activities. I really enjoyed the meeting with an entrepreneur and coach, blogger Mikhail Grebenyuk, it was unexpected for me. It was difficult to get there, there were a lot of people who wanted to, but I did it. I also liked the night of professional sports – I was sitting in the front rows, in front of the ring, and, for the first time, I saw boxing not from the gadget screen," said Alexander Chizhov, a commander of the Headquarters of the SSU Student Brigades.
On the morning of March 6, a singer SHAMAN performed his songs and the anthem of Russia on the main square Soul of Russia, and, in the evening, the crowd sang along with Klava Koka and Leonid Agutin. In the afternoon, meetings and sessions were organised with Minister of Science and Higher Education Valerii Falkov, Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration – Presidential Press Secretary Dmitrii Peskov, and Director of the Information and Press Department at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakharova.
The Justice congress hall hosted the performance-to-education show Our Space with the participation of actors Milos Bikovic, Julia Peresild, and a cosmonaut, Hero of Russia Sergei Prokopyev.
‘I am already in the second year of my master's degree, and the main years of my student life seem to have passed. But when I found out about the WYF, I realised that if I missed this event, then 5 years in youth policy would be in vain. I passed the selection! I found myself here and also friends who are like-minded. The WYF is like a seven-day trip to 188 countries,’ Ulyana Rizina, the ambassador of the festival, a student of the Faculty of Law, shared her impressions.
One of the bright and symbolic events of the festival was the round dance of the peoples of the world, in which the WYF participants, setting a world record – The most massive multinational friendship round dance, which united 73 nationalities.
On March 7-8, the guests of the World Youth Festival went home to different cities and countries with unforgettable impressions, a lot of new ideas and plans, as well as with a lot of interesting acquaintances and friendships.
