The World Youth Festival 2024 (WYF 2024) will take place in the Russian city of Sochi from 1 to 7 March and will host 20,000 young people from around the world. Representatives of Latin American countries will play a very important role at the festival, as will the BRICS and BRICS+ countries.

BRICSLat, a partner of TV BRICS, held a meeting with the WYF regional coordinators for Latin America, who spoke about the work they are doing with the committees, the goals of the festival and the importance of dialogue.

“We are very interested in Latin American integration. For us, this Latin American integration, BRICS integration with other regions is a priority,” said one of the coordinators.

There are three regional coordinators in Latin America: Elizaveta Feofilova, Daria Litova and Ruzanna Malikova.

The WYF is scheduled for next March, so it is now in the preparatory phase. One of the objectives of this stage is to create a network and community beyond the World Festival itself. “Our idea is, firstly, to bring all these young people together during the preparatory activities and create a network of young leaders in Latin America that could exist before and after the festival. Secondly, to create a strong community based on this network that will exist after the event,” said Daria Litova.

“We also want to show the whole world what the real Russia is. For Latin American youth, this is a special opportunity to get to know the Russian Federation beyond preconceived notions, as well as an opportunity to build bridges between cultures,” said Elizaveta Feofilova.

“The interest in travelling to Russia among young people in Latin American countries is very high. This gives us hope and confidence that there are many young people who want to participate in the WYF,” mentioned Ruzanna Malikova.

Events in Latin America

The different WYF committees are developing activities to promote the festival and create a network of young people around the world.

“We hold cultural presentations. For example, in Colombia our ambassador is a classical musician and she promotes the festival with her concerts. This is great because art knows no borders,” Litova emphasised.

“In Brazil, for example, we work with the council of Russian compatriots. These are people who have Russian roots in the second or third generation and are mostly Orthodox Christians. For them, tradition is an important value. That is why there is now an open discussion about how to integrate tradition into the modern world,” she added.

“In Argentina, one of the most active committees with a very clear system of work. In Paraguay, we work closely with the Ministry of Youth, we have achieved an official note from the ministry that determines the status of a project of interest to the festival and to the committee. We do various presentations. We also use social media very actively,” Feofilova noted.

“In general, in each country we have quite a lot of work to do in these three areas – presentations, social networks and media,” Feofilova summarised.

It is important to note that so far two key discussions have been scheduled at the WYF: “Russia and Latin America: a new page of co-operation” and another one is dedicated to the indigenous peoples of the region.

As for what kind of young people the committees are looking for to participate in the festival, they said they expect “young people from different spheres: culture, sports, science, politics, business, volunteering.”

“It is very important for us that a person should be a professional in his field of activity and study. He should be very active, participate in various events, have some achievements,” Feofilova said.

About the World Youth Festival

The main programme of the festival will take place from 1 to 7 March 2024, and from 10 to 17 March 2024 a tour of 26 Russian cities, including Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan and Vladivostok, will be organised.

The festival, which will be attended by 10,000 young Russians and 10,000 foreign citizens, will be held at the Sirius Education Centre in Sochi. It was created in the Olympic Park after the 2014 Winter Games and has all the necessary infrastructure for a comfortable stay.

Representatives of young people from all regions of the world – Europe, America, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Oceania – will be able to take part in three programmes: educational (debates, round tables, expert presentations, master classes and networking), cultural (excursions, exhibitions, fairs, performances and Russian language lessons) and sports (competitions and group training).

Photo:
IStock