The World Youth Festival Ended in Sochi

At the closing ceremony of the WYF-2024, which took place on March 6, Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered an address. He noted that the festival was held in order to create conditions for freedom, creativity, and friendship that would allow to communicate with each other, find new friends, and perhaps partners for future projects.

A team of more than 20 people took part in the World Youth Festival from Petrozavodsk State University.

Ulyana Kucherova, Head of the project office of the Student Union, attaché of the delegation of the Republic of Karelia to the WYF:

“Even before arriving at the festival site, I had an understanding of the scale and level of preparation, but throughout the days I was amazed by the foreign participants, their energy, kindness, command of the Russian language and openness to communication. We sang, danced, laughed, shared our stories.

One of the most exciting events is the international Club of the Funny and Inventive People. It was amazing. High-quality humor, strong and diverse teams and television stars.

I was an attaché of the delegation of the Republic of Karelia. Quite a responsible task and, I think, I was able to build comfortable and useful communication with the participants, quickly convey information to them and respond to questions and situations, orient the guys in a vast territory and generally maintain a positive attitude. This experience will be useful in any job and in any project!

Vitaly Antipin, Chairman of the PetrSU Student Union, Head of the delegation of the Republic of Karelia to the WYF:

“I was impressed by the scale of this event. It was important to show Russia’s hospitality and establish connections for further exchange of experience. It is interesting to observe the most current achievements of youth policy. Participation gave me the experience of leading a delegation at such an event; I had to solve a large number of problems.

Angelina Tyapushkina, student at the Institute of History, Political and Social Sciences:

“This festival was the brightest, most colorful and inspiring of my life!

I was able to attend lectures from speakers such as Nurlan Saburov, Jan Dylan, Elena Shanovich and others. I also managed to communicate with Yulia Baranovskaya and Elena Shanovich, and managed to get inspired by the speech of Sergei Bezrukov.

Over the 7 days of the festival, I met people from different countries: the British, Serbs, Belarusians, Kazakhs, Vietnamese, Koreans, French. They are all very kind and talented people!

At the festival, I made new friends, learned a lot of new things that will be useful to me in the future, and also told the participants about my region!

Alexander Kashirin, Master's degree student at the Institute of Philology:

“The most important acquisition and greatest value of the World Youth Festival 2024 is its people: participants, experts, volunteers, organizers - everyone who was involved in the festival and became its integral part. There was an incredible atmosphere of friendship and mutual support at the festival.

The training program was exciting. The organizers tried to make it interesting for everyone, to model it according to the interests of participants in different fields of activity. During the festival I managed to attend a large number of events.

Ekaterina Kaderova, graduate student at the Institute of History, Political and Social Sciences:

“The festival had many interesting events and entertainment for participants. The program included theatrical performances, concerts, master classes, sports competitions, discussions and lectures on various topics. A theatrical production based on “The Diary of a Writer” by Fyodor Dostoevsky and presented by the creative association "Vakhtangov Workshop" made a deep impression. The play included seven different stories by the writer. The questions that the writer discussed more than a hundred years ago remain relevant to this day.

In addition to the entertainment program, the festival was also a place for the exchange of experiences and ideas between participants. During the festival, I communicated with students and representatives of various public organizations. When meeting with representatives of the volunteer movement, I was able to discuss the prospects for the development of volunteerism in archival work.

Robiya Amanova, student at the Institute of Foreign Languages of PetrSU:

“The festival included a huge variety of events, ranging from educational lectures with top speakers to dance shows and sports competitions! Of course, it’s difficult to name one thing memorable, because there were many emotions. But for me, some of the most impressive and memorable events were the opening and closing ceremonies of the festival, as well as the Procession of the Nations of the World. The opening and closing ceremonies were so exciting and impressive that I could not take my eyes off what was happening for a second! And the Procession of the Peoples of the World impressed with its scale: just imagine, participants from more than 180 countries on one square, in their national costumes. The atmosphere was simply incredible!

The most important experience I got from the festival was meeting people. I met a variety of people from a variety of countries, but we were all united by love, friendship and family. I am incredibly grateful to the festival for this opportunity!