In a arena glowing with 10,000 light-emitting diode wristbands, young delegates from 191 countries sang together in Russian, exchanged plush Cheburashka toys, and listened to messages from orbiting cosmonauts as the International Festival of Youth (IFY – 2026) concluded its main programme in Ekaterinburg.
The seven-day event, held from September 11 to 17 under the Youth and Children national project and organised by Tavrida.ART, brought together 10,000 participants. The closing ceremony was structured around the theme that music unites people across nations and generations, serves as a bridge over geopolitical barriers, and forms part of a broader struggle for freedom, justice, and self-expression.
More than 1,000 artists took the stage during the ceremony, backed by full orchestras, choirs, and international conductors under the musical direction of composer Anton Belyaev, founder of the LAB project. The evening was hosted by Nikola Tsiskaridze, People’s Artist of Russia and Rector of the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet, alongside theatre and film actress Nika Zdorik.
The opening segment featured resident artists from the Tavrida arts cluster and the band Beautiful Boys, hosted by Anton Shastun, Dmitry Pozov, Liza Yushchuk, Varya Shcherbakova, and Lorenzo Bianti, followed by a prologue overture conducted by Italian conductor Fabio Mastrangelo.
In the ceremony’s first thematic section, titled “Russia Shares Its Ideas,” 150 ballet dancers, aerial acrobats, a choir, and an orchestra led by US conductor Christian Knapp performed a “Russian Megamix.” During the act, the 10,000 audience members joined the Sretensky Monastery Choir to sing lines from the song “Kon” (“The Horse”): “Ya vlyublyon v tebya, Rossiya” (“I’m in love with you, Russia”).
“When that many people start singing the same song all at once, it’s always a powerful, almost indescribable feeling,” said festival participant Alexey Andreev from St Petersburg. “In that moment, it stops mattering where you’re from or what language you speak. It was especially wonderful to see people from other countries trying to sing along too. I think that’s what real unity, and the power of music, really is.”
The event drew explicit parallels to historical predecessors, notably the 1957 World Festival of Youth and Students in Moscow. An episode named “A Connection Between Generations” paired archival footage from 1957 with performances by the vocal-instrumental ensemble “Poyushchiye Gitary” (“Singing Guitars”), LAB choir soloists, and pop artist Akmal’, accompanied by an orchestra conducted by China’s Zhang Shiqu.
Addressing the audience during the proceedings, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov framed Russia as an “open and friendly country” and invited the international delegates to return for future gatherings.
“We appreciate that, despite the great distances involved, all of you have gathered here and seen for yourselves how Russia lives – an open and friendly country,” Lavrov said. “You represent different continents, cultures, religions and civilizations, but you’re all united by youth, a thirst for knowledge, and a drive to find solutions to the most complex problems. It’s precisely knowledge, combined with modern technology and new forms of cooperation, that makes it possible to solve challenges that seemed unattainable just yesterday.”
Lavrov urged participants to return without needing formal invitations, highlighting annual Russian events such as the Congress of Young Scientists and the Tavrida.ART Young Art Festival in Crimea. “Our unity lies in diversity, and at the International Festival of Youth, that principle has taken on real, practical meaning,” he added.
Personal aspirations and technological themes were highlighted in the segment “Dreams of the World’s Youth,” where five representatives from different global regions shared their personal stories before Russian singer Vanya Dmitrienko sang the chorus of “Sedaya Noch” (“Grey Night”) in English, backed by an orchestra conducted by Belarus’s Nikolai Teran.
“I always dreamed that young people from all over the world would come to us, to discover Russia. And when I saw all of you here today, I realized my dream had come true,” Dmitrienko told the crowd. A pre-recorded video transmission from Russian cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) was broadcast, featuring the crew speaking on space exploration and fulfilled ambitions.
Addressing current geopolitical tensions, an episode titled “The Challenges of Our Time” framed love and active listening as the antidote to a global information war of “all against all.” Musician Dmitry Koldun, opera singer Vasilisa Berzhanskaya, a 1,000-member children’s choir from Sverdlovsk Region arts schools, and the All-Russian Youth Symphony Orchestra—conducted by Hero of Labour of Russia Yuri Bashmet—performed “Alliluyya Lyubvi” (“Hallelujah of Love”) in the six official languages of the United Nations: Russian, English, Arabic, Spanish, Chinese, and French.
Symbolic diplomacy took a tangible form in the “Exchange of Mascots” episode, where 100 international participants brought plush Cheburashka toys—the official festival mascot—onto the stage to swap with one another, prompting a venue-wide exchange among the audience.
“I first saw Cheburashka at the opening ceremony – he appeared on stage, and I liked him right away,” said Charles Silva, a delegate from Brazil. “During the ceremony, I gave my Cheburashka to a friend from China, and I received a toy from people from Congo in return. I’m taking my Cheburashka home with me – he’ll remind me of this festival, of the new friends I made here, and of this evening… And, of course, of Russia.”
Following the mascot exchange, Univervidenie-2023 winner Emmanuel Mbahotu sang “Million Voices,” before rock band Uma2rman brought the ceremony to a close with their track “Prostitsya” (“To Say Goodbye”).
Technology platform VK embedded interactive features throughout the finale, deploying a “Let’s Hug Camera” from “VK Dating” to stream attendee reactions, managing a central group chat for greetings on VKontakte, screening top user-generated VK Clips, and displaying historical festival retrospectives via Dzen feeds.
As part of the broader cultural programming, the main stage also presented the “Each of Us” Ethno Folk Music Show, featuring 185 performers from 19 nations, including Russia, China, India, Iran, Brazil, South Africa, Belarus, and Abkhazia. The show blended traditional folk motifs with modern arrangements to highlight shared human values of family, home, and mutual respect.
Among the featured acts, South African vocalist Lizwi, known for blending Zulu traditions with Afro-house and accumulating over 65 million streams for her hit “Amathole,” performed the Russian folk song “Vo Pole Beryozka Stoyala” (“A Birch Tree Stood in the Field”) alongside the State Academic Omsk Russian Folk Choir.
The musical production incorporated traditional instruments such as the guzheng, qanun, violin, domra, ghatam, and the Iranian daf—a large wooden frame drum with a goatskin membrane and internal metal rings traditionally used in Sufi rituals. Iranian percussionist Reza Dezaipour, a member of the BRICS Melody project, played the daf during the show.
Other international contributors included Qatari FIFA World Cup 2022 performer Mohamed Elegimy; Chinese musician Zhou Taotao, who has contributed to nearly 1,000 film soundtracks including Jackie Chan’s “Centennial Guardian”; and Indian percussionist Ganesh Murali, who recorded ghatam tracks for Ed Sheeran’s album “Play.”
The lineup was completed by the group AY YOLA, who adapted their track “Homay” into “Bashkir Honey” featuring the character Kopatych for the animated franchise “Smeshariki”; TV contest “Zaletai v Trendy” winners LAVU, who performed “Alyoshka 2.0” with Sergey Zhukov; IFY – 2026 anthem composer
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