Russia Welcomes International Guests at 19th World Festival of Youth and Students
The Festival brought together more than 20,000 people from 188 countries.
Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed festival participants at the opening ceremony in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi on 15 October 2017. He underlined that Russia was a multi-ethnic country which had always respected other cultures, languages and faiths. Many Russian universities sent their delegations of volunteers to the festival. Kazan (Volga region) Federal University sent 153 students, Ural Federal University 57, South Ural State University 36, Novosibirsk State University 30, Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia 30 and National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University 23. The delegations include both Russian and international students.
Cultural and entertainment events ran in Sochi and elsewhere in the country as part of the festival. Moscow hosted a carnival parade involving 35,000 students of Russia and 450 delegates from other states. Far Eastern Federal University set up a festival platform of its own which gathered more than 100 foreigners from 50 countries. Siberian Federal University and Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University welcomed international guests as well. The festival programme is packed with activities such as round table discussions, lectures, sport games (arena soccer, basketball, hockey, chess etc), concerts and film screening. The festival will run until 22 October.
