By Sahaib Ahmad
The Russian Federation is all set to host the XIX World Festival of Youth and Students 2017 in Sohci, Russia. This time the festival’s slogan is ‘For peace, solidarity and social justice, we struggle against imperialism. Honoring our past, we build the future!’
This is the third time that Russia has been honored to host the biggest eventsacross the globe for youth and students.Earlier Russia has hosted the festival in the years 1957 and 1985.
The 1957 festival in Moscow was the largest of all the editions of World Festival of Youth and Students (WFYS) in terms of the number of participants. The first World Festival of Youth and Students was held in 1947 in Prague.
This year the festival movement marks 70 years of its existence. The Festival was conceived 70 years ago with the mission to bridge deep-rooted ideological differences among the different countries of the world. It has continued with its tradition to nurture peace and harmony through robust cultural linkages among different nations of the world and to unite the students and young generations from across the globe to stand up against imperialism. The WFYS 2017 is jointly organized by the World Federation of Democratic Youth and the National Youth Council of Russia.
The WFYS 2017will be held from 14 – 22 October, 2017. Over 20,000 participants from 150 countries across the globe will unite in Sochi. Youth from Pakistan is also attending this mega event this year.
The program will kick off with the Carnival Parade in Moscow which will include Carnival Procession and different festivals from around the world such as Sakura Blossom Festival, Holi, Mardi Gras, Festival of Orchestras and more.
One eye-catching component of the Carnival Parade will be the Reconstruction of the 1957 Festival Parade. The Opening Ceremony of the WFYS 2017 is scheduled to take place on the 15thin Sochi. Next couple of days will be followed by Discussion Program, Cultural Program, Sporting Program, Scientific and educational thematic areas.
There is a special and unique feature in this festival which makes it different from all its previous eighteen editions. This special feature is the Regional Program whereby fifteen different regional cities of Russia have been involved in the festival.
Under the Regional Program 1,500 out of the 20,000 participants will have an opportunity to visit one of the regional cities for which the participant has been selected. This will be during the first three days of the festival. Thus the festival will not confined to Moscowor Sochi, rather the entire country will be celebrating and living the spirit of the festival. Finallythe Closing Ceremony will take place on the 21st of October. One essential element of the ceremony will be “Let’s Change the World” – address to be made by the participants. The festival will come to end but its spirit will forever become a part of youth attending the event.
