From September 11 to 17, the International Festival of Youth (IFY – 2026) will take place, bringing together 10,000 young leaders from 191 countries. Volunteers who have joined the IFY – 2026 volunteer corps have already begun arriving in Ekaterinburg to prepare for the largest international youth event of the year, held as part of the Youth and Children national project.
Ahead of the Festival, the volunteer team will receive their gear and undergo specialized training directly at IFY – 2026 venues.
"To us, volunteers are not just assistants in organizing the Festival. It is these 2,000 volunteers who, in large part, will shape international guests' first impressions of Ekaterinburg and of Russia. From greeting them at the airport to accompanying them at venues and taking part in the regional program, they will be by participants' side, helping them feel confident and comfortable. I believe our volunteers will be true ambassadors of hospitality, creating the atmosphere of openness and friendship that we expect from the World Youth City," noted Dmitry Ivanov, General Director of the World Youth Festival Directorate.
The application campaign for the IFY – 2026 volunteer corps launched on December 5, 2025, at the awards ceremony for the International #WeAreTogether Prize. Over the course of the campaign, nearly 22,000 applications were received. The selection process included several stages: filling out an application form, completing training courses, an interview, and in-person training, which took the form of 78 programs held across 46 regions of Russia. To build the IFY – 2026 volunteer corps, 28 Volunteer Recruitment and Training Centers were opened across Russia. These centers supported candidates at every stage, from the information campaign and consultations to selection and training.
"Over the course of Festival week, volunteers will work with guests from 191 countries. This is an experience that will stay with them for a long time. Our goal is for it not to end on September 17: after the Festival, everyone will be able to keep helping back home, through the Dobro.rf platform, Dobro.Centers, and #WeAreTogether hubs. That is how volunteering stops being a one-off event and becomes part of everyday life," noted Artem Metelev, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Youth Policy and head of the Dobro.rf ecosystem.
Volunteers from every region of the country are arriving at the IFY – 2026 venue. The largest numbers come from the Sverdlovsk Region, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Krasnodar Territory, and the Moscow Region.
Among the first to arrive in Ekaterinburg were volunteers from the hero city of Sevastopol. For some volunteers, the IFY – 2026 will be their first experience taking part in a large-scale international event. Volunteer Matvey Shikhov from Sevastopol got involved in volunteering last year while studying at university.
"At the IFY – 2026, I will be working on crowd management – helping arriving participants find their way around the different venues and pavilions. Sevastopol is a hero city, and mutual aid and volunteering are very well developed here — it is practically in our blood. So I am really looking forward to taking part in the Festival, and I will do everything I can to help its participants," said Matvey Shikhov.
The IFY – 2026 volunteer corps also includes "silver" volunteers — members of the elder generation with extensive volunteering experience. Among them is Olga Kuzina, who has already taken part in organizing major international events. At the IFY – 2026, she will be working in linguistic support, helping representatives of different countries communicate with one another.
"This is not the first time I have taken part in a major international event — the International Festival of Youth 2026 will be my fourth. That is why I came to Ekaterinburg with such enthusiasm and interest. What matters especially to me is that here I will be able to help participants communicate with one another and provide language support. Young people from all over the world will be gathered at the Festival, and my job is to make sure language barriers do not get in the way of them getting to know each other, exchanging experience, and finding common ground. I really enjoy this role, and I will do everything I can to make sure participants feel comfortable and that the Festival is a great success," noted Olga Kuzina, a "silver" volunteer at the IFY – 2026.
International citizens living in Russia have also become the IFY – 2026 volunteers. One of them, Joseph Olawoyin from Nigeria, is a university student in St. Petersburg.
"What I am most looking forward to from taking part in the Festival is making new connections, getting the chance to learn more about people from different countries, and sharing my own culture and experience. I also want to tell other participants about the Russia I have come to know – a place that is safe, free, where people are very friendly and always ready to help. I decided to become a volunteer because I had previously applied to take part in the Festival as a delegate but was not able to attend. Once I came to Russia to study on a scholarship, I wanted to find a way to give something back and be useful to the country that gave me the chance to get an education. So I decided to join the Festival as a volunteer," said IFY – 2026 volunteer Joseph Olawoyin from Nigeria.
As has now become tradition, the Children's Program organized by the Movement of the First will once again be part of the International Festival of Youth 2026. The IFY – 2026 will also include 1,000 teenagers aged 14 to 17 – 500 from Russia and 500 from other countries. To support them, around 100 chaperone-counselors will be on hand in Ekaterinburg.
"Right now I work as a senior counselor at the very school I recently graduated from. During my school years, I was deeply involved in social projects and community activities. I was lucky enough to take part in a shift at the Russian Children's Center, Smena, where I first felt that powerful energy and spirit of leadership. My biggest triumph was winning the All-Russian competition Bolshaya Peremena – twice. That opened the door for me to the Artek International Children's Center, where the finals of various competitions were held. Smena and Artek changed my whole outlook on life. I experienced firsthand how the atmosphere of a camp, big challenges, and the support of mentors can completely transform a teenager's life. That is where I realized: I want to become the kind of mentor who helps kids believe in themselves. Coming back to my own school as a senior counselor gave me a unique advantage: the kids and I speak the same language, since it was only yesterday that I was sitting at those same desks. I have brought the spirit of the country's leading children's centers back to my own school, and now I help students discover their talents and achieve success. My story is about how a single spark, lit during one camp shift, can shape someone's whole career and destiny. I will be happy to share it at the International Festival of Youth!" noted counselor Tamara Smirnova.
The IFY – 2026 volunteers will work across 17 functional areas: creating a warm and welcoming atmosphere for guests, handling accreditation and logistics, assisting medical staff, accompanying experts and international and Russian delegations, supporting participants with limited mobility, providing interpretation and translation, helping organize guided tours, creating content for social media, and liaising with the press. After the main program concludes, volunteers will accompany international delegations as part of the Festival's Regional Program.
Overview:
The World Youth Festival took place in Sirius on March 1-7, 2024, according to the Decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin on the development of international youth cooperation. The WYF-2024 brought together 20,000 young leaders from 190 countries.
In line with the Russian President’s instructions to preserve and further develop the legacy of the World Youth Festival, festival events are now held annually across the Russian Federation. In 2025, the World Youth Festival Assembly was held in Nizhny Novgorod, bringing together 2,000 young people from 120 countries. In 2026, the International Festival of Youth will welcome 10,000 participants. The next World Youth Festival for 20,000 participants will take place in 2030.
The World Youth Festival Directorate continues its work to strengthen international youth cooperation and develop a global community of young people committed to shaping a better future.
Photo: Sergey Karpukhin/TASS Photo Service for the International Festival of Youth