International Youth Festival 2026 concludes in Yekaterinburg

The International Festival of Youth 2026 has concluded in Yekaterinburg, Russia, following a week of events that brought together 10,000 young participants from 191 countries.

The festival’s main closing ceremony was held on September 16 at the Ekaterinburg-EXPO International Exhibition Centre. The event ran from September 11 to 17, with the main closing programme taking place on Wednesday evening.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov addressed the closing ceremony as the chief guest. In his remarks, he thanked participants for travelling to Russia and said the organisers had worked to make their stay comfortable while introducing them to the country’s culture, traditions and regional diversity.

Lavrov also described Russia as a country of opportunities and said his country was prepared to continue exchanging experiences with participants. He said the festival provided a platform for communication, experience-sharing and building connections among young people from different countries.

The closing programme also featured concerts and cultural performances by Russian and international artists and bands. Cultural presentations highlighted traditions, history and heritage from different Russian regions and parts of the world.

The festival was organised as part of Russia’s national project “Youth and Children”, with the World Youth Festival Directorate involved in its organisation. The official festival programme lists Yekaterinburg as the host city and the Ekaterinburg-EXPO complex as its main venue.

Bangladesh was also represented at the festival, with 70 young delegates and four media representatives participating, according to the source report.