World Youth Festival Directorate

Hello from Rwanda! 🇷🇼 🕶 The Moriox Kids team from Rwanda is sending a special musical greeting to future IFY–2026 participants! Created by video director and professional dancer Muhoza Shema Blaise, the project helps children from low-income families discover their talents and stay connected to education. Today, he supports more than 30 children, with a bigger dream ahead — opening his own school, reaching 3 000 children, and creating jobs for their parents. 💚 Watch the video and feel the energy!

🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆 Imagine a place where the endless steppe stretches out before you by day, and the stars seem close enough to reach out and touch by night. This is Mongolia through the eyes of Zolgerel Ochgerel 🇲🇳 She’ll tell you why freedom is more than just a word for Mongolians, what the Gobi looks like with its golden dunes and green oases, and why the door of a traditional yurt is always open to every guest. 🧡 Swipe through the #cultural_code cards — after reading them, you might just add Mongolia to your list of countries to see for yourself. Want to tell us about your country too? Send a ❤️ in the comments.

What if “The Office” was filmed at the World Youth Festival Directorate? 📹 Some people come to work, open their laptops and wait for the day to end. Not here — every day comes with a new plot twist! Creative brainstorms, partner meetings, posts, content creators, and dozens of tasks happening at once — that’s what preparing for the IFY–2026 looks like. It’s basically our own version of the legendary series — just with a lot more going on 😄 📌 Watch the video and get a behind-the-scenes look at how the Festival is coming together!

Stay on course towards your dream 🧭 During Rosatom’s “Icebreaker of Knowledge” expedition, Ruslan Sasov, captain of the nuclear-powered icebreaker 50 Years of Victory, shared a message with the participants of the IFY–2026 🟢 His advice? Be brave, stay open to new people and ideas, trust your team, and don’t be afraid of challenges! 🩷 Watch the video, choose your own summit — and full speed ahead!

3 weeks left until the IFY–2026 🇷🇺 The Festival is getting closer — and it’s time to get ready! This week, learn how to say «Я готов!» — I’m ready! 🟢 📍 Three weeks to go. Are you ready to meet new people, explore Ekaterinburg and experience the Festival? #russian_with_wyfd

🎶 We’re already learning the songs for the IFY–2026! What about you? That’s because the Festival will feature the World Cultures Quarter, created by our friends from the Tavrida.Art art cluster. Participants and guests will discover traditions from Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas and the Middle East through live shows, performances and other cultural events. ▶️ The video features one of the songs you’ll hear there — sing along! The World Cultures Quarter is supported by the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives

— Tell me the words you’ve been waiting to hear — I’ve been selected for the IFY–2026 💌 Every day, we see your reactions and feel how close our big meeting is getting For some of you, Ekaterinburg is just a few hours away, while for others, it’s literally on the other side of the world, but no distance is big enough to keep us apart for long. 🏠 See you soon — in Russia!

Greetings from Lake Baikal! ⛰ The International Youth Forum “Baikal” is taking place right now, organized by the Government of the Irkutsk Region with the support of Rosmolodezh One of the forum’s five tracks focuses on International Friendship Clubs The World Youth Festival Directorate, together with the International Friendship Club of the Irkutsk Region, held a project session where participants developed ideas for five key areas — from education and media to entrepreneurship and civic engagement ✅ Today, the teams will refine their ideas and present them to an expert jury. The best projects will be presented to Andrey Yuzhakov, Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Irkutsk Region.

Are you in the game? ⚽️ Today is International Youth Day, a day for those who take action, create and change the world. And in just one month, the whole world will meet in the heart of the Urals at the International Festival of Youth –2026! Time to start warming up — we’re launching the WORLD BALL PASS challenge. 🏆 It’s simple: kick the ball, film your result, pass it on to the next participant and post your video with the hashtags #WorldBallPass and #IFY2026. 🌍 Our friends from different corners of the world have already joined the challenge — now it’s your turn! Send your video in the comments 👇

⚡️ Participants of Rosatom’s “Icebreaker of Knowledge” expedition joined a special creative and scientific campaign in support of the IFY–2026. Aboard the nuclear-powered icebreaker 50 Years of Victory, young researchers from Russia and 22 countries decorated the wing of a research platform with their messages and wishes for future International Festival of Youth participants 🟢 The platform later took off from the Franz Josef Land archipelago, reaching an altitude of over 15 km and covering more than 100 km. In the future, technologies like this could support environmental monitoring, Arctic communications and monitoring of the Northern Sea Route. We’ll be waiting for these Arctic greetings in the heart of the Urals at the IFY–2026! 🩷

First time in Russia. What’s your plan? 🇷🇺 Russia is vast, and everyone has their own plan for the trip ahead! We asked our international friends what they’re most excited to see, try, and feel at the International Festival of Youth–2026. If you are a IFY-2026 participant and got accepted, send us your video — we might feature it next time! Or just post it on your social media with the hashtag #First_thing_in_Russia ⭐️