Published on: 2026-05-04
Source: Government of the Russian Federation – Government of the Russian Federation –
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The main registration for the International Youth Festival (IYF-2026) has been completed. The largest international youth event will take place within the framework of the national project “Youth and Children” from September 11 to 17 in Yekaterinburg. It will unite 10 thousand young people from around the world, ready to take responsibility for the future of the world, build an open dialogue, exchange experiences, and establish international cooperation.
Applications for participation in the International Youth Festival, which will be held in Yekaterinburg as part of the national project “Youth and Children,” have been submitted by more than 100 thousand young people from 191 countries around the world. Among them are those who are already implementing social projects, developing technologies, achieving success in science, and working in the field of public administration of their countries. Together, young leaders will seek solutions to global challenges.It is important that this international dialogue takes place on the platform in our country, where, under the directive of President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, broad opportunities are created for the self-realization of young people,” said Deputy Chairman of the Government of Russia Dmitry Chernyshenko.
Applications for participation in MFM-2026 could be submitted by young people aged from 14 to 35 years old from Russia and foreign countries.
“Expanding opportunities for youth self-realization, establishing friendly and professional connections, launching joint projects with foreign colleagues are priority tasks of MFM-2026. We received 40,231 applications from all over Russia. For the first time in the modern history of youth festivals, over 20 thousand applications came from foreigners, more than from Russians. The festival received feedback from all over the world: more than 62 thousand applications came from countries of Europe, North, Central, and South America, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and even Australia,” noted the head of Rosmolodezh, Grigory Gurov.
Among the Russian regions, the leader in the number of applications was Moscow. In second place is the host of the festival, Sverdlovsk Oblast and the city of Yekaterinburg. The capital of the Urals in September 2026 will turn into a real City of the Youth of the World – a place for the meeting of cultures, ideas, and perspectives, where young people from all over the world will be able to build a common future of a multipolar world together. Also among the leaders in the number of applications among Russian regions were Saint Petersburg, Perm and Krasnodar Krais, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod and Voronezh Oblasts, the Republics of Tatarstan and Bashkortostan.
“We are pleasantly surprised by the activity of young Yekaterinburg residents, who submitted over 2 thousand applications to the festival. The questionnaires, distinguished by high quality, show that the residents of the capital of the Urals not only share their achievements, but also demonstrate sincere motivation to establish connections with peers from beyond the border, as well as a desire to show the whole world their region — known for its industrial might, rich culture, and amazingly talented people.”Among foreign states, the leaders in terms of number of applications were Algeria, Pakistan, and Brazil — countries from three completely different macroregions of the world, which clearly indicates a global interest in the festival. Among about a dozen foreign countries, Morocco, Uzbekistan, India, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Vietnam, and Libya also participated. Russia, with openness and respect, will welcome participants from all corners of the globe and create all conditions for a meaningful, honest, and truly unifying intercultural dialogue,” noted Dmitry Ivanov, General Director of the Directorate of the World Youth Festival.
Special interest was shown by teenagers. For them, the International Youth Festival “Movement First” will present a large-scale children’s program combining a thousand children from all over the world. One of its main tasks is to create conditions for the qualitative development of children’s diplomacy, the development and implementation of joint initiatives.
The children’s program will allow children to get acquainted with the achievements of modern Russia, develop joint projects in various fields: from science, education, digitalization, creativity and creative industries to media, sports, and entrepreneurship. It is important that teenagers showed great interest: more than 13 thousand applications were submitted by participants aged 14–17, about 5 thousand of which are from foreigners. The program participants will include 500 people from Russia and 500 from other countries.”I am sure that during the festival, guys from different countries will find many like-minded people to jointly propose initiatives that they will later be able to implement in their homeland,” said Hero of Russia, participant of the presidential personnel program “Time of Heroes,” chairman of the board of the “First Movement” Artur Orlov.
Experts have already begun analyzing the submitted applications. They will need to select 10 thousand of the best questionnaires from potential participants who will be sent to the festival in Yekaterinburg in September. When evaluating candidates, priority will be given to young people who demonstrate expertise, have already managed to prove themselves, and have successfully implemented projects in one of 8 areas: science and education, sports, entrepreneurship, media, digitalization and IT, creative industries and art, public administration, and civic activity.The motivation of the participant for the development of international cooperation and exchange of experience with other participants will also be taken into account during the evaluation.
For candidates who failed to submit an application during the main stage, a backup registration on the International Opportunities Platform wyffest.com is open until May 31. Applicants from the reserve will be able to participate in WFFM-2026 if any of those registered on the main list for some reason cannot attend the festival venue.
The International Youth Festival will become part of the “family” of events of the World Youth Festival, which began with the “Sirius” event in 2024.
The World Youth Festival took place from March 1 to March 7, 2024, at “Sirius” in accordance withуtogether with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the purpose of developing international youth cooperation. 20 thousand young leaders from 190 countries of the world participated in VFM-2024.
In accordance with the instructions of the PresidentRussia About the preservation and development of the legacy of the World Youth Festival, festival events are held annually on the territory of the Russian Federation. In 2025, in Nizhny Novgorod, there was sYears of the World Youth Festival. The event brought together 2,000 young people from 120 countries around the world. In 2026, the International Youth Festival with 10,000 participants will be held. The next World Youth Festival with 20,000 participants will take place in 2030.
The Directorate of the World Youth Festival continues its work, aimed at strengthening international youth cooperation and developing a community of young people who care about the future of the world.
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