Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Preparations for the World Youth Festival are entering the final stage. The City of Youth of the World is preparing to host 20 thousand participants from more than 180 countries, which is an absolute record. This was announced by the head of Rosmolodezh Ksenia Razuvaeva at a press conference at the Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency.

“We are waiting for an event of a planetary scale, an absolute record for the number of participants - more than 300 thousand applications. This is six times more than in 2017, thereby destroying the myth of any isolation of Russia. We are ready to host the Festival; now the final stage of preparing the objects that are the legacy of the Olympics is underway. In addition, we already have enormous experience in holding international events of this scale,” noted Ksenia Razuvaeva.

She also spoke about the difficult selection process that the candidates went through. The tests consisted of six stages, including a portfolio, an essay and a video business card. Based on the information received from the candidates, a rating list of participants was formed. And the final stage is the formation of delegations. From a huge number of applications, the organizers selected candidates who scored the highest number of points during the competitive selection, that is, the best of the best. Preference was given to the most active and socially active children who are worthy of representing Russia at the International Festival. They also paid attention to the significance of the projects of future participants and the number of their achievements.

As part of the World Youth Festival, the Sirius Educational Center, together with the First Movement, will hold a special children’s program “Together into the Future”.

“Such a program will take place for the first time in the history of the world festival movement. I am glad that we are starting this tradition at Sirius, where great attention is paid to the support and development of talented youth. More than 80 thousand applications from 144 countries were submitted to participate in the program, and only a thousand children - 500 from Russia and 500 from abroad - passed the final selection. At Sirius they will work in areas dedicated to science and education, technology and innovation, culture and art, humanities and social sphere, sports and ecology. Their teachers and mentors will be partners of the Educational Center and Sirius University, as well as experts from the First Movement - they will help schoolchildren choose the right direction and, within the framework of it, reveal their capabilities,” said the head of the Sirius Educational Center, Chairman of the Council of the Federal Territory Elena Shmeleva .

She added that after the festival, 100 participants in the children’s program who passed an additional selection will continue their studies at Sirius. From March 8 to 21, they will take part in the Global Great Challenges program. The guys will unite into international teams and will develop scientific and technological solutions that are relevant for the whole world, which will be offered to them by large high-tech companies - Sirius partners.

Chairman of the Board of the Russian movement of children and youth “Movement of the First” Grigory Gurov, in turn, noted that the Festival is a unique opportunity to see how our children and youth create the future together.

“The program is designed in such a way that the children study the past, try the present and comprehend the future. Our 18 workshops will host classes, thematic international events, and an information campaign. The content that we ultimately receive will be the legacy of the festival. The main idea here is that the entire Festival is made by the youth and children themselves. This principle of co-authorship is a unique practice. The guys will be co-moderators and co-organizers of all events that will take place at the Festival,” added Grigory Gurov.

First Deputy Director of the ANO “Directorate of the World Youth Festival”, program director of WYF-2024 Sergei Pershin revealed some secrets of the opening ceremony.

“The most interesting, memorable technical solutions with touching moments will be used. Each of the meanings of the Festival Day program will be emphasized, visualizing and revealing it. These are meanings that are shared by young people all over the world. Meanings for which Russia is still fighting today,” he emphasized.

More than 100 outstanding lecturers will speak at the federal educational marathon “Knowledge.First” from the general partner of the WFM-2024 educational program – the Russian Society “Knowledge”.

“It is a great honor and responsibility for us to become the general partner of the educational program of the World Youth Festival. We have planned a number of events at the site, and the main event will be the federal educational marathon Knowledge. The First, which will be held from March 2 to 6 and will unite six sites of the City of the Youth of the World. The most striking performances will be broadcast on our Znanie.TV,” said Maxim Dreval, General Director of the Russian Society “Znanie”.

Advisor to the head of Rosmolodezh Anton Pashkov said that the Festival will be covered by more than a thousand journalists from 36 countries.

“Journalists are always not just long-awaited guests at youth policy events, but also full-fledged co-authors of these events. In the conditions of the information war that is currently being waged in the Western media against our country, it is, of course, very important for us to have full-scale, objective and correct coverage of the festival, its values and goals. The opinion of the younger generation and participants from more than 180 countries of the world must be heard,” emphasized Anton Pashkov.

He also noted that the press center volunteers will speak more than four languages.

According to the Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Youth Policy, Chairman of the Council of the Association of Volunteer Centers Artyom Metelev, in total more than 50 thousand applications were submitted. Volunteers will help organize the arrival and departure of participants and guests, their meals, accommodation and navigation.

“We selected 7,800 volunteers, with an average age of 27 years. The oldest is 81 years old,” he clarified.

The World Youth Festival will be held in March 2024 in accordance with the Decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin in order to develop international youth cooperation. At the first meeting of the Organizing Committee, chaired by the First Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation Sergei Kiriyenko, it was decided to hold the Festival on the federal territory of Sirius.

WFM-2024 will be attended by 20 thousand young leaders in the fields of education, science, international cooperation, culture, volunteering and charity, sports, business, media, etc., including 10 thousand foreign participants. For the first time in the history of the festival movement, teenagers from 14 to 17 years old will have the opportunity to take part in the event - 500 from Russia and 500 from abroad.

The organizer of the World Youth Festival is the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs (Rosmolodezh), the operator of WFM-2024 is the Directorate of the World Youth Festival.