Cultural code, education and national cuisine: foreign participants of the WYF–2024 meet Russian regions

The regional program of the World Youth Festival has started. Two thousand representatives of foreign young people from 147 countries are visiting dozens of Russian cities. During this trip, participants from abroad are exploring our country, its cultural and historical heritage, national diversity of peoples and their traditions, unique nature and economic potential.

5 thematic routes have been developed for the regional program: Live and work in Russia, Memory Lane, Country without borders, We are back in Russia, as well as a visit to the Russia International Exhibition and Forum. The guys will have a great journey through Russian cities — from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok, from Volgograd to Khabarovsk, from Makhachkala to Murmansk.

In the Chechen Republic, as part of the Live And Work In Russia route, on March 12, foreigners went to see the cultural peculiarities of the region. The participants visited two mosques: The Pride of Muslims named after the Prophet Muhammad in the city of Shali and the Mother's Heart named after Aimani Kadyrova in Argun. The first mosque impressed the guests with its scale – it is one of the largest Muslim prayer buildings in Europe. Up to 30,000 people can pray there at once. The architecture of the Mother's Heart impressed the participants with its futuristic features. This is the first mosque in Russia built in the high-tech style. The guests were introduced to the traditions and life style of the inhabitants of the republic in the XVIII century at the Shira-Kotar National Ethnographic Museum. The participants were very interested in traditional dwellings, a blacksmith shop, a mill, a mosque and a stone Vainakh watchtower with a height of 23 meters at the entrance.

“I am happy to be here! I like this culture, the variety of national cuisine – everything is very tasty. The Chechen Republic has gone through hard times and recovered – this is something that my country could learn,” said Mohammed Khadar Jahur from Somalia.

The Memory Lane includes hero cities and cities of military glory: St. Petersburg, Volgograd, Smolensk, Tula. The participants of the regional program visited unique museum complexes and learned about the heroic feat of Soviet people at the front and behind the lines.

The WYF-2024 participants started their day in Volgograd with morning exercises together with Olympic champions Alexey Petrov, Maxim Opalev, and Alexey Savostin. The participants also tried to pass the GTO norms. Then they continued with a walk through the city center, acquaintance with the student community and the educational program at two key universities in the region – Volgograd State Technical University and Volgograd State Socio-Pedagogical University. They learned the stories of educational institutions, the scientific and social life of students, the volunteer center, scientific and technological potential. Foreign participants managed to get acquainted with the structure of regional authorities, as well as learn more about the activities of the youth parliament.

Luis Enrique from Brazil is for the first time in Russia and Volgograd.

“I really like your city and people living here. I personally learned a lot about history, about the courage of Soviet soldiers, which they showed in the fight against fascism. We must understand that Brazil is a Western country, and now a Western vision of the world is being imposed on us, however, in schools and universities we study the history of Russia, its progressive projects — many young people are really interested in this,” said the young man.

Young people from different countries also got acquainted with traditional cuisine: delegates were treated to dishes with mustard oil, Volga and Don fish and then invited to the festival of national cuisine and festivities with pancakes dedicated to Maslenitsa.

The thematic Country Without Borders route runs through four cities located in different parts of the country: participants are invited to visit Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Kaliningrad, Makhachkala, and Khabarovsk, get acquainted with the national and natural wealth and historical and cultural diversity of the largest tourist centers of Russia.

In Kaliningrad, foreign guests went on a guided city tour, and then went to the island of Immanuel Kant. In the evening, at the Act! festival, the participants got acquainted with Russian traditions and talked with representatives of children's and youth public associations and organizations. The participants also met with a famous Russian figure skater, Honored Master of Sports of Russia, two-time silver medalist of the 2018 Olympic Games Evgenia Medvedeva.

As part of the We Are Back In Russia route, young people from abroad went to the Republic of Crimea, Sevastopol, and the Luhansk People's Republic, where they learned about life in new regions, their history, culture, architecture, and urban development.

Today, the participants of the Festival visited the Great Cathedral Mosque in Simferopol, Crimea. This is the largest prayer hall of Muslims in Crimea. Four thousand believers can pray here at the same time. The participants were impressed by the size of the building. They were told that it was one of the tallest religious buildings on the peninsula.

Then the young guests went to the Artek International Children's Center. The guests visited the Artek school, got acquainted with the educational process and infrastructure of the institution. Another landmark was the Alley of Artek Heroes, where the guests laid flowers at the Monument to the Liberators of Artek.

“Crimea is very beautiful and somewhat resembles my homeland, especially in landscapes. We managed to visit Laspi Bay, Vorontsov Palace in Alupka, Yalta and other historical sites,” noted Arina Chagaeva from Abkhazia.

Todor Naydenov from Bulgaria said that Crimea amazed him with its historical landmarks.

“You can see that everything is constantly developing here. There is infrastructure for youth development. For example, we visited the Resource Center for the Support of Volunteerism in the Republic of Crimea, on the basis of which youth organizations are developing,” highlighted Todor.

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The World Youth Festival will take place in 2024 according to the Decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin on the development of international youth cooperation.

The World Youth Festival is organized by the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs (Rosmolodezh) and operated by the World Youth Festival Directorate.