BrSU representatives returned from the International Youth Festival in Yekaterinburg

They are young, energetic, and open to new things – representatives of Brest State A.S.Pushkin University passed the selection process and became participants of the International Youth Festival in Yekaterinburg. From September 11 to 17, Natalia Petrova, a specialist of the Media Communications Service, Ulyana Shedko, a student of the Faculty of Natural Sciences, and Ekaterina Romanyuk, a student of the Faculty of Pedagogy and Psychology, spent time in the heart of the Urals – Yekaterinburg. The young women were among ten thousand participants from 191 countries of the world who had the good fortune to visit educational venues, exciting cultural and mass events, and interesting excursions. At the same time, the young women told everyone about the unique Belarusian culture and the charm of the Belarusian land. After the completion of the main part of the festival, Natalia and Ekaterina managed to take part in the regional program and get to know other regions of Russia in more detail.

Natalia Petrova:
– The International Youth Festival is a whole separate world where dreams come true. I wanted to gain professional skills – to learn video-filming life hacks, to study ways of interacting with audiences on social media, and to get an answer to the question of how to always create content that gets a lot of views.
As a media professional, I especially appreciated the unified style. I exchanged contacts with many of the young people. Now I can say with confidence that I have acquaintances in every corner of the globe. I hope we will see each other more than once – not only at such wonderful venues, but that we will also visit each other.
During the festival, I often thought of Artyom Sarapin, chief referent of the Main Directorate for Ideological Work and Youth Affairs, whose story about the festival set this amazing whirlwind of events in motion for me.

Ulyana Shedko:
– The impressions from the festival are exceptionally strong. Above all, its scale is amazing: young people from different countries, with different experiences, cultural backgrounds, and views gathered here, yet a common language was found very quickly. It is especially valuable that the IYF is not only a rich educational program but also a space for new acquaintances, exchange of ideas, and finding future partners for joint projects.
I have never before seen such a level of unity in a team of people, many of whom were seeing each other for the first time. I really enjoyed the concerts – we managed to see performances by Egor Krid, Dima Bilan, Vanya Dmitrienko, and many other artists. Despite the huge number of events, there was no fatigue; on the contrary, the festival inspired and charged us with energy.
Events like this help you take a fresh look at what we are doing in our country and at our alma mater.

Ekaterina Romanyuk:
– I absolutely loved the trip to the International Youth Festival in Yekaterinburg. There are not many opportunities in life when, within a week, you can talk with representatives of almost the entire globe. And in that short time, you come to understand how diverse, interesting, and boundless the world we live in is. With a smile on my face, I recall those rainy evenings when, after a concert, you dash into your room for ten minutes to change and run off to another concert; those heartfelt late-night conversations with young people from another corner of the planet; and those very quick acquaintances, when all it took to make new friends was to step out of your room.

Prepared by Yulia Vovk
Photo from the festival participants' archive