Discover, learn and create! The World Youth Festival, which brought together representatives of almost 190 countries, was held in Sochi. Only 20 thousand people witnessed the world events. Students of Yugra State University – Angelina Skobeleva, Sarraf Agaev, Kamilla Baimova, Viktoria Sivuha, Alisa Betker, Alina Sharipova, Valeria Atarshikova, Kirill Kaseum, Nikita Basharin, Ekaterina Yakimets and Snezhana Chubarova, resident of the Business Laboratory of YuSU, who got to the festival due to the victory in the project «My mentor», foreign students – Tarek Hussein from Egypt and Diana Bekzhanova from Kazakhstan, a teacher of the center of educational engineering and mentor of activity practices of the direction «Center of international cooperation» Alexandra Vorontsova and assistant head of the Youth Policy Department of YuSU Ekaterina Koroleva were selected and became participants and ambassadors of the WYF. Students Alexey Dudchenko, Elza Chaparova, Alyona Kozlova, Alyona Labunets, Kristina Kayukova, Eugene Usoltsev were volunteers at the festival.
The City of Youth of the World was "built" on the territory of the Olympic Park, located on the federal territory of "Sirius". The heart of the festival area was Medalnaya Square, which for the duration of the WYF was called "The Soul of Russia". Our students also remembered the WYF airport, a place where many activities and mini-quests were held, for the completion of which prizes and stickers were given out. By the way, the festival participants exchanged them for WYF merch.
Every day the participants would get up early in the morning, go for exercise with Olympic champions, and after breakfast run to the bus that would take them to Sirius. "During my week in Sochi I took about 1000 photos and videos. It's easier to say who I didn't get to meet, it feels like I got to know all 188 countries. I didn't even want to go back, because there was a powerful atmosphere at this festival, everyone is so friendly, charismatic, enthusiastic, and I just wanted to chat and walk with them 24/7. I am glad I came to the WYF," Sarraf Agaev, a student of the YSU Institute of Law, told about the daily routine, meeting foreign delegates of the festival and his impressions. Another student of the YuSU Institute of Law Alisa Betker told that she was impressed by the atmoshere of VK-concerts. The organizers of the festival paid very close attention to the educational part. So, Alisa was very interested in the lectures of the "Znanie" Society, and the most memorable for the YuSU student was the lecture of the Governor of Yugra Natalia Vladimirovna Komarova.
The opening and closing ceremonies of the festival were impressive, with huge stadiums for thousands of spectators, giant moving sets, and performances by popular artists. The march of the youth of the world was also grandiose, with a huge number of representatives of different cultures, each of whom was happy to tell about themselves, emphasized Victoria Sivuha, a student of the Institute of Humanities. The girl managed to get acquainted with participants from Algeria, China, Turkey, France, Brazil, as well as other regions of Russia - Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia, Mordovia. “Everyone was happy to communicate and talk about their native land” the YuSU student notes.
"The feelings from the festival are incredible! Thanks largely to the KMAO family, who were always there for us, setting the mood for the day. We really became close, albeit for a few days. The company of boys and girls from YuSU and Nizhnevartovsk, who happened to be close by, was an eye-opener for me. Without them my days would not be so interesting. I want to discover, learn and create! The festival became my sign that everything in this world is possible and quite real. Only forward, only to discoveries!" Victoria shared her emotions.
Another student of the Institute of Humanities Angelina Skobeleva, became an ambassador of the festival. Before the trip, the girl underwent training and tests to immerse herself in the festival and its intricacies. The YuSU student also shot content: "At the WYF-2024 she created an atmosphere, united people, promoted the values and meanings of the festival, tried to participate in as many events as possible, covered everything that was happening on her Vkontakte page and introduced our Yugra to the participants!" For example, she conducted a survey among foreigners and residents of other regions of Russia, in which she introduced them to the flavor of our district. Thus, the festival participants learned what the Khanty and Mansi peoples were called in the past and what the Khanty used to sew clothes that protected them from rain and did not get wet in the water. "Now more people know about our region, its peculiarities, and dream of visiting Yugra!" Angelina notes.
Angelina remembered best the meeting with the Governor of Yugra. "I am very close to her attitude of friendliness and openness. "Welcome to Yugra!" with these words Natalia Vladimirovna addressed the festival participants. And I felt proud that our governor positioned the district from such a kind and hospitable side." The Ambassador also had time to get acquainted with participants from other countries. "I remembered most the guys from China, which, by the way, turned out to be Russian-speaking," said Angelina. The girl also took part in the project of collecting the festival's book collection. The books were brought both by Russian participants and foreign ones.
The World Festival does not end here. After all, Yugra has become one of the WYF regional venues.