From September 11 to 17, 2026, as part of the International Festival of Youth in Ekaterinburg, the Senezh Public Management Workshop of the Presidential Platform “Russia – the Country of Opportunities,” with grant support from the Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives, ran the team-building activity “Tales of the World.” The project demonstrated a high level of audience engagement: more than 5,000 people has taken part in the program.
The activity was built around a series of 36 challenges inspired by the fairy tales and myths of Russia’s peoples and of the world. The format of the tasks was designed to build team-work skills and included interactive scenarios – from piloting a flying carpet and gathering rejuvenating apples to completing water-based challenges.
“Today I visited the ‘Tales of the World’ pavilion, where I especially enjoyed the team-building game. There were some unusual challenges: for example, blindly rolling a ball from point A to point B, learning to braid, and decorating a carpet – that one was a special task for accuracy and concentration. I really liked the Festival: there are people here from 191 countries, and you can meet, talk, and exchange experience with all of them,” emphasized Nikolay Kozhevin from Buryatia.
The program’s key element was its final challenge – scaling a 4.3-meter wall. The obstacle is designed so that it cannot be overcome alone: success depends entirely on coordinated teamwork, mutual trust, and role distribution. Only the most motivated teams, having completed the previous stations, were allowed to attempt this stage. A distinctive feature of the challenge is a ban on verbal communication during the climb – participants have to coordinate their actions without words, relying on nonverbal cues and tactics worked out in advance.
“At first I was confused – how do you work with people you don’t know as part of one team? The task seemed difficult to me. But then, once I got into the flow of working together, everything turned out to be much simpler, because every participant contributed something. At first you think nothing’s going to work, and then it all comes together – and that result is genuinely satisfying. So, it was a great experience,” said Haitham Yaqoub Said Al Musalami from Oman.
The venue’s infrastructure included 10 themed photo zones, where participants who successfully completed at least 5 stations could get professional photos taken in traditional costumes of Russia’s peoples (organizers had more than a hundred costumes on hand). The venue also featured an AI photo booth, allowing visitors to create a digital portrait styled as figures from different cultures – from a samurai to a bogatyr – with the option to receive a printed copy of the photo.
“The different challenges in this pavilion are focused on teamwork and communication. That’s important and interesting – not all the participants spoke English, so sometimes we communicated through gestures and movement, inventing ways on the spot to communicate and get our thoughts and wishes across to each other. Even though we weren’t talking in the usual sense of the word. So it was fun,” noted Muhammad Azra Firmansyah from Indonesia.
As part of the cultural and educational segment, an interactive initiative was organized at the venue to collect creative material: visitors shared their impressions and talked about their favorite fairy-tale characters. This material will be used by Ded Moroz to put together a unique collection of tales, planned for release ahead of the New Year.
The tent space also served as a creative venue: it featured a large-scale coloring installation depicting well-known fairy-tale characters, from the Golden Fish to the Frog Princess.
“At the Festival in Ekaterinburg, I met so many people. It’s a wonderful opportunity not just to talk with peers, but to learn more about their countries and cultures. For me, it was also a chance to immerse myself in Russian culture, including through fairy tales, games and food. I loved it!” shared Dhruv Anilkumar Amin from India.
The final stage of the activity was creating the “Flag of Friendship and Gratitude.” Participants wrote words of appreciation on it in their native languages and recorded video messages of thanks to Russia and to the Festival’s organizers.
The “Tales of the World” project confirmed the effectiveness of game-based and interactive formats in fostering cross-cultural dialogue, building collaboration skills, and strengthening ties between young people from different countries.
Overview:
The International Festival of Youth, held as part of the Youth and Children national project, is taking place in Ekaterinburg from September 11 to 17, 2026. The decree establishing the event was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on December 29, 2025. The Festival is being held under the motto “Follow Your Dream”.
Participants of the IFY – 2026 include 10,000 young leaders from 191 countries, including 5,000 Russians and 5,000 international citizens. Among them are leading representatives of creative industries and the arts, public administration, science and education, sport, entrepreneurship, media, digitalization and IT, and civic engagement – people who are already shaping the future of their countries and the world. Continuing the successful practice established at the World Youth Festival 2024, those invited include 1,000 teenagers aged 14 to 17 – 500 from Russia and 500 from abroad. The Children’s Program is organized by the Movement of the First.
The World Youth Festival took place from March 1 to 7, 2024, in Sirius, in accordance with a decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin, aimed at developing international youth cooperation. The WYF-2024 brought together 20,000 young leaders from 190 countries.
In line with instructions from Russia’s President on preserving and building on the legacy of the World Youth Festival, festival events are now held annually across Russia. The World Youth Festival Directorate continues its work to strengthen international youth cooperation and build a community of young people who care about the future of the world.