Regulations for the Competitive Selection of Russian and Foreign Participants of the World Youth Festival 2024

1. Terms and Definitions

The Festival is the World Youth Festival to be held in March 2024 by decree of the Russian President No. 249 of April 5, 2023, On Holding the World Youth Festival in 2024.

The Directorate isthe Autonomous Non-Profit Organization “World Youth Festival Directorate” acting as a financial support and Festival organization and delivery operator, the Festival organizer.

The Festival Official Website (the “Website”) is an Internet website, fest2024.com.

The ROCs areRegional Organizing Committees of the Russian Federation for the organization and delivery of the Festival.

The NPCs areNational Preparatory Committees of the Festival in foreign countries.

The Competitive Selection is a step-by-step process of completing tasks to rank the applicants and select them as Festival participants. The official languages of the Competitive Selection are Russian and English.

The Selection Committee is a collegial body established on the basis of the ROC/NPC and composed of experts appointed to evaluate applications for participation in the Festival. The Selection Committee has the right to decide on issues related to the Competitive Selection and determination of persons recommended for inclusion in the delegations, and to ensure compliance with the rules and conditions of participation in the competitive selection.

The Children's Selection Committee is a joint federal commission composed of representatives of the Talent and Success Educational Foundation, the Movement of the First All-Russian Public and State Movement of Children and Youth and external organizations which selects Russian and foreign minors (aged 14 to 17 inclusive) to participate in the Festival. The Children's Selection Committee has the right to decide on issues related to the Competitive Selection and determination of persons recommended for inclusion in the children's program of the Festival and to ensure compliance with the rules and conditions of participation in the competitive selection.

Russian participants are citizens of the Russian Federation aged 18 to 35 inclusive and minor citizens of the Russian Federation aged 14 to 17 inclusive.

Foreign participants are citizens of foreign countries; citizens with multiple citizenship; citizens of foreign countries residing in the Russian Federation and citizens of the Russian Federation permanently residing in another country (compatriots) aged 18 to 35 inclusive, and minor foreign citizens, citizens of the Russian Federation permanently residing in another country and foreign citizens residing in the Russian Federation aged 14 to 17 inclusive.

Adult participants are Russian and foreign participants aged 18 to 35 inclusive.

Minor participants are Russian and foreign participants aged from 14 to 17 inclusive.

The Festival Main Pool is the list of winners of the Competitive Selection to participate in the Festival according to the quota and individual scoring of the results of all selection stages.

The Festival Reserve Pool is the list of applicants to participation in the Festival following the winners of the Competitive Selection according to individual scoring and who are not included in the Festival main pool.

2. Main Provisions

2.1. The Regulations define the procedure for organizing and conducting the Festival Competitive Selection.

2.2. The Regulations define the procedure of interaction between the Directorate and the ROC for the selection of adult Russian participants and the formation of delegations from the Russian subjects, the procedure of interaction between the Directorate and the NPC for the selection of adult foreign participants and the formation of delegations from foreign countries, and the procedure of interaction between the Directorate, the Children's Selection Committee and the ROC/NPC for the selection of adult foreign participants and the formation of delegations from foreign countries.

2.3. The Regulations shall be published on the Festival official website.

2.4. The Regulations are subject to change by the Directorate.

2.5. The revised Regulations shall be published on the Festival official website.

3. Liability of the Parties

3.1. The Directorate

3.1.1. Ensures the development of the methods to evaluate activities, the Competitive Selection schedule and any other regulatory documents required.

3.1.2. Organizes and provides technical support for the official website during the competitive selection.

3.1.3. Provides solutions to current issues related to the organization and conducting of all the selection stages.

3.1.4. Approves the final list of Festival foreign and Russian participants based on the results of all the selection stages.

3.1.5. Conducts a Competitive Selection of the Festival participants from foreign countrieswhere the NPC cannot be established for technical or other reasons.

3.2. ROC/NPCBasedSelection Committees

3.2.1. The ROC/NPC shall form and approve the composition of the Selection Committee, including specialists from all professional fields corresponding to the categories of the Festival participants. The composition of the Selection Committee shall be sent to the Directorate.

3.2.2. The Selection Committee, taking into account the quota and the results of the Competitive Selection, including the Competitive Selection conducted by the Children's Selection Committee for minor participants, shall draw up the ranking list for the inclusion of participants in the official delegations and submit it to the ROC/NPC for approval.

3.2.3. The ROC Based Selection Committee shall conduct a Competitive Selection among citizens of the Russian Federation and foreign citizens residing in the Russian Federation aged 18 to 35 inclusive in accordance with the methods for evaluating Competitive Selection activities and principles, developed and provided by the Directorate under the terms of subparagraph 3.1.1 hereof.

3.2.4. The NPC based Selection Committee shall conduct a Competitive Selection among citizens of foreign countries; citizens with multiple citizenship; citizens of the Russian Federation permanently residing in another country (compatriots) aged 18 to 35 inclusive in accordance with the methods for evaluating Competitive Selection activities and principles, developed and provided by the Directorate under the terms of subparagraph 3.1.1 hereof.

3.3 The Children's Selection Committee

3.3.1. Shall conduct a Competitive Selection among all minor applicants from the Russian subjects and foreign countries in accordance with the methods for evaluating Competitive Selection activities and principles.

3.3.2. Shall submit recommendations to the selection committees of the ROC/NPC on the inclusion of participants in official delegations, taking into account the quota.

4. Competitive Selection

4.1. The following persons are eligible for the competitive selection:

• within the children’s Competitive Selection – persons who are 14 years of age as of February 1, 2024 (inclusive);
• within the adult Competitive Selection – persons who are 18 years of age as of February 27, 2024 (inclusive).

4.1.1. Persons who will have reached the age of 36 by March 9, 2024 (inclusive), are not eligible to apply.

4.2. To participate in the Festival, an interested person (the “Applicant”) shall:

• register on the Festival official website and get access to their Account (the “Account”). Each applicant may only have one Account on the Festival official website. Multiple registrations are not allowed.

The applicant undertakes to provide accurate information when registering and to keep it up to date throughout the Competitive Selection and the Festival. Providing false information will result in the disqualification of the applicant. The Directorate reserves the right to request documentary proof of any data provided during the registration.

The Directorate, the ROC, the NPC and the Children's Selection Committee have the right to disqualify an applicant from the Competitive Selection at any stage in the event of false or knowingly false information being provided about the applicant and/or their legal representative and/or in the event of a breach of the terms and conditions of these Regulations and/or the Festival Regulations.

• confirm the accuracy of the data provided during registration, as well as their familiarity with and full consent to the Privacy Policy, the Data Processing Consent, the Terms of Use and the Personal Data Processing Policy;
• independently provide the necessary technical means and conditions, including software and Internet access, to pass through all the selection stages.

4.3. The Registration for the Competitive Selection is carried out:

• to the main pool – June 24 to December 01, 2023, inclusive;
• to the reserve pool of the delegations of the Russian subjects – 2 December to 31 January 2024 inclusive.

4.4. Competitive Selection for the applicants aged 18 to 35.

4.4.1. After registering on the Festival official website (paragraph 4.2 hereof), the applicant successively uploads the following files to their Account:

• portfolio at the first selection stage (Appendices 2, 3, 6 and 7 hereto);
• essay on the topic “What is the closest meaning of the World Youth Festival to you?” at the second selection stage. Requirements (recommendations) for the essay are provided in Appendices 4 and 8 hereto);
• a 30-60 second self-introduction video in which the applicant answers three (3) questions in Russian or English at the third selection stage (Appendix 5 hereto). This stage is optional for foreign applicants and gives them the opportunity to score bonus points.

The self-introduction video for Russian applicants must be published on VKontakte. The URL (links) are attached to the Account.

Foreign applicants must upload the self-introduction videos to their Accounts on the website (Appendix 9 hereto).

4.4.2. The selection stages open sequentially in the Account. Applicants who fail to complete the mandatory tasks for one stage are ineligible for subsequent stages.

4.4.3. Russian applicants must score at least 1,000 points for the Essay stage to be eligible for the self-introduction video stage. Foreign applicants must score at least 50 points for the Essay stage.

4.5. Competitive Selection for Applicants Aged 14 to 17

4.5.1. After registration on the Festival official website (paragraph 4.2 hereof), the applicant successively uploads the following files to their Account:

• portfolio at the first selection stage (Appendices 10–13 hereto);
• self-introduction video at the second selection stage (Appendices 10–13 hereto).

4.5.2. Uploading the Portfolio to the Account

Applicants’ portfolios should include their experience of participation in youth events, projects and competitions in the field of socially significant activities and public activism, Olympiads and other intellectual and (or) creative competitions and events aimed at developing intellectual and creative abilities, ability to engage in physical culture and sports, interest in scientific, engineering, inventive, creative, physical culture and sports activities, and promotion of scientific knowledge and creative and sports achievements over the past three years. Foreign applicants shall also indicate their level of English (Appendices 11–13 hereto).

4.5.3. Uploading the Self-Introduction Video to the Account

In the self-introduction video, the applicant is invited to present their socially significant project (project initiative).

In the self-introduction video, the applicant should describe the project, the problem the project (initiative) is trying to solve and the solution for it with justification of the effectiveness of the proposed solution (Appendices 10–13 hereto).

4.5.4. The third selection stage is an online test in the Account. The online test requires applicants to demonstrate their knowledge in their chosen field. Test points are awarded for correct answers (Appendices 10 and 11 hereto).

4.5.5. The portfolio and test points are summed up. The self-introduction videos of 4,000 Russian and 4,000 foreign applicants with the highest scores will be evaluated.

2,000 Russian and 2,000 foreign applicants will be invited to an online interview based on the results of the self- introduction video evaluation.

4.5.6. At the fourth selection stage, the applicant shall take part in a video conference interview with representatives of the Children's Selection Committee.

4.5.7. The selection stages open sequentially in the Account. Applicants who fail to complete the mandatory tests/tasks for one stage are ineligible for subsequent stages.

4.6. The results of all the selection stages will be taken into account when calculating the individual ranking of all applicants, regardless of their age.

4.7. The Directorate provides the ROC, the NPC and the Children's Selection Committee with access to the administrative accounts, which enable the selection of Russian and foreign applicants.

Information on the ranking of applicants based on the results of the children’s Competitive Selection is sent by the Children's Selection Committee to the ROC and the NPC for approval as Festival participants and inclusion in the delegations.

4.8. Based on the results of the competitive selection, the Festival main and reserve pools are formed. The Directorate approves the final list of foreign and Russian participants of the Festival.

4.9. The total number of participants shall be determined by the quotas defined hereby and shall not exceed:

• a total of ten thousand (10,000) Russian participants of the Festival aged 14 to 35, of whom five hundred (500) are minor participants (Appendix 1 hereto).
• a total of ten thousand (10,000) foreign participants of the Festival aged 14 to 35, of whom five hundred (500) are minor participants.

4.10. If persons submit materials for the competition selection that contain obscenities, insulting statements against the Directorate, other Festival organizers, partners, applicants and/or participants, any other third parties, motives of political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or enmity or motives of hatred or enmity against any social group, including discriminatory statements on the grounds of sex, race, skin color, nationality, language, origin; promotion of violence and cruelty, propagation of violence and cruelty in the context of the Festival, pornography, drug addiction, substance abuse, anti-social behavior, terrorism, Nazism, racism; as well as persons whose actions or words are offensive in nature, defame the business reputation of the Festival, ROC, NPC, Children's Selection Committee and other Festival participants; testify to violation of the terms of the Festival Regulations, the terms of these Regulations and the legislation of the Russian Federation, they are not allowed to participate in the Festival.

5. Formation of Russian Delegations

5.1. Based on the results of the competitive selection, the individual ranking of each applicant is determined and the overall ranking for each Russian subject is calculated.

5.2. The ROC approves and sends to the Directorate the ranking list for the inclusion of the main pool participants in the official delegations, taking into account the quota through the administrative accounts on the Festival official website.

5.2.1. The ranking list of foreign citizens residing in the Russian Federation is sent in excess of the quota of the Russian subject through the administrative accounts on the Festival official website.

5.3. When forming recommendations, the ROC adheres to the percentage ratio of categories within the quota of the Russian subject in accordance with the list of categories of Russian participants of the Festival (Appendix 13 hereto).

5.4. The Directorate approves the final list of the Festival participants for each Russian subject.

5.5. The Directorate sends an official letter with the final list of Festival participants to the ROC and executive authorities of the Russian subjects implementing the state youth policy for further development.

5.6. The applicants who have successfully passed the Competitive Selection receive an invitation letter to participate in the Festival from the Directorate in their Account.

5.7. After receiving the invitation letter, the applicant shall confirm or refuse to participate in the Festival.

5.8. Should the applicant fail to confirm the application in their Account within seven (7) calendar days from the date of the invitation letter receipt, the Directorate reserves the right to refuse participation.

6. Formation of Foreign Delegations

6.1. Based on the results of the competitive selection, the individual ranking of each applicant is determined and the overall ranking for each foreign country is calculated.

6.2. The NPC forms and sends to the Directorate the ranking list for the inclusion of the main and reserve pool participants in the official delegations, taking into account the quota through the administrative accounts on the Festival official website.

6.3. Following the review of the proposals for the main and reserve pools of the foreign delegations, the Directorate approves the final list of participants and sends an official letter to the NPC with the final list of participants for further development.

6.4. If there is no NPC in a foreign country, the delegation is formed directly by the Directorate based on the applicant ranking.

6.5. Successful applicants receive an information letter and an invitation from the Directorate to participate in the Festival in the Account.

If the Russian Federation visa is required, the successful applicants receive a document from the Directorate allowing them to obtain a visa in a simplified form (if there is a specific procedure in the country concerned).

7. Final Provisions

7.1. The exclusive rights to the results of the intellectual activity of the applicants and participants (the “Object” and “Objects”), created during the fulfilment of the tasks of the selection stages, belong to the applicants and participants (the “Authors”). At the same time, the Directorate has the right to use the results of the authors' intellectual activity for information and/or advertising purposes. The authors agree to modify, abbreviate, supplement and add illustrations, prefaces, epilogues, comments or any other explanations by the Directorate to the results of their intellectual activity, without any financial compensation (remuneration).

By registering for the competitive selection, each applicant who is a possible author of the Object/Objects grants their consent of the Author (creator, holder of the rights) to the possible publication of separate Objects (video cards, essays, etc.) for non-commercial purposes by the Directorate, the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs, the Festival partners and/or third parties authorized by them on the Internet, and other sources, in full or in part, with respect for copyright and with indication of the name of the Author (name of the right holder).

The Directorate, Rosmolodezh and Festival partners have the right to use the Objects for non-commercial purposes (including advertising and promotion of the Festival, in methodological and informational publications, for coverage in mass media and for educational purposes).

The Authors voluntarily agree to the free publication of the Objects or their fragments in any way and on any media, at the discretion of the Directorate.

The Directorate is not responsible for the content of the Objects submitted for the competitive selection. Claims related to infringement of copyright/related rights shall be addressed directly to the persons who submitted the materials (works).

7.2. All issues not covered by these Regulations shall be resolved by the Directorate within its competence, within the framework of the current situation, in accordance with the Festival Regulations and the current legislation of the Russian Federation.

7.3. Processing of personal data of applicants and their legal representatives, including collection of personal data, their systematization, accumulation, storage, clarification (updating, modification), use, blocking and other, is carried out in full compliance with the requirements of the Federal Law of July 27, 2006, No. 152-FZ On Personal Data.

8. Contact Details

The Directorate – Client Group Department – Russian and Foreign Participant Support Department:

• email: help@fest2024.com;
• phone: 8 800 551-11-81 – toll-free within Russia;
• phone for international calls under your operator tariffs: +7 (495) 380 11 81.

Appendixes to Regulations:

Appendix 1. Russian Subject Quotas for the World Youth Festival 2024

Appendix 2. Portfolio Stage Content and Evaluation Criteria as Part of the Competitive Selection of Russian Participants Aged 18 to 35

Appendix 3. Tables of Ranking When Evaluating the Portfolio Stage Achievements as Part of the Competitive Selection of Russian Participants Aged 18 to 35

Appendix 4. Essay Stage Content and Ranking as Part of the Competitive Selection of Russian Participants Aged 18 to 35

Appendix 5. Self-Introduction Video Stage Content and Ranking as Part of the Competitive Selection of Russian Participants Aged 18 to 35

Appendix 6. Portfolio Stage Content and Evaluation Criteria as Part of the Competitive Selection of Foreign Participants Aged 18 to 35

Appendix 7. Tables of Ranking When Evaluating the Portfolio Stage Achievements as Part of the Competitive Selection of Foreign Participants Aged 18 to 35

Appendix 8. Essay Stage Content and Ranking as Part of the Competitive Selection of Foreign Participants Aged 18 to 35

Appendix 9. Self-Introduction Video Stage Content and Ranking as Part of the Competitive Selection of Foreign Participants Aged 18 to 35

Appendix 10. Selection Criteria for Russian Participants Aged 14 to 17

Appendix 11. Selection Criteria for Foreign Participants Aged 14 to 17

Appendix 12. List of Youth Events, Projects and Competitions in the Field of Socially Significant Activities and Public Activism

Appendix 13. Olympiads and other intellectual and creative events

Appendix 14. Russian World Youth Festival Participant Categories