“There will be winners, but there will be no losers.” Festival "Youth - for the Union State" opened in Mogilev

In Mogilev opened the XIX festival “Youth for the Union State”. The large-scale creative event, which takes place from 7 to 11 October, gathered more than 200 young talents from Belarus and Russia - participants in contests of performers of youth songs and choreographic groups.

The festival is unique primarily because young people participate in it, Deputy Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus, Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union of Belarus and Russia Vadim Ipatov emphasized at the opening:

Cultural dialogue is a clear conversation in which there is color and emotion. In creative competitions there will be winners, but there will be no losers, because this festival allows you to exchange interests, make new friends, get acquainted with each other's values and culture. Interest in the festival is growing every year, and supporting it is our main task. And here we are all together – Belarusians and Russians.

The opening ceremony continued with a competition program. However, behind the scenes, the participants faced not competition, but mutual assistance. The participant of the exemplary folk song ensemble “Svyatki” from Minsk Karolina Vasilyeva says:

- The festival has an amazing atmosphere - everyone is friendly, helps each other. It's our first time in this competition. The selection was very serious and I am glad that it worked out. I will perform with the collective and solo. I will go on stage with a folk song in Belarusian. I think today it is especially important to take care of our traditions and their preservation. And the Union State competition allows us to show our culture and traditions to children from Russia.

Chairman of the jury of the choreographic competition, director of the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre Mikhail Kolegov is sure that young people need to unite through creativity. Jury participants promises to professionally and impartially:

- No matter how a person moves, what matters is what drives them. In addition to the technical base, which we will evaluate, the internal emotional component is important - how sincere and internally beautiful a person is: sometimes this covers even professional skills.

Mikhail Kolegov added that creative partying is also important for the younger generation:

- It's great when you can meet, communicate with colleagues from another country. Someone has never been to Moscow or Novosibirsk, someone has not been to Mogilev like me. Therefore, we are happy to share our experience and discuss creative plans. This is interesting not only for the participants, but also for the members of the jury.

The festival “Youth for the Union State” has been held since 2006 on the initiative of the deputies of the Parliamentary Assembly. For a long time it was held in Russia, but in 2025 the creative forum was first hosted by Belarus – the venue was Mogilev. In 2026, the festival was again organized on Mogilev land. SG forum participant from Russia: our common history is formed from cultural interweaving and co-creation