MOSCOW (Sputnik) — A series of festive events in the light of the upcoming festival is taking place in Moscow on April 14-20, which will be followed by a string of events across Russia, the festival's program director Sergey Pershin said Friday. The third international preparatory meeting for the festival will take place in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo in late May, where the organizers will plan and approve the program of events. The youth festival will take place on October 14-21, bringing some 20,000 people aged from 18 to 35 from over 150 countries.
"I cannot say there have been any concrete agreements, but the world's youth would like to see Ban Ki-moon, Zuckerberg and DiCaprio and other people for are working in the fields of culture or health. The list is very large indeed… it will be considered with great attention in the future," Pershin said at the Moscow International Education Fair in reply to a question on whether people like Zuckerberg, DiCaprio and Musk would be invited.
The list of confirmed guests will be published after the end of the preparatory meeting in Colombo on May 27, according to the program director.
"After the approving the general program in Sri Lanka in May during a special preparatory session, we will publish those speakers who confirm attendance," he said.
Sochi was chosen as the place for the 2017 festival by the general assembly of the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY) in 2015 after Russia filed the application to host the event.
The international festival has been taking place since 1947 and is organized by WFDY and the International Union of Students. The last festival was held in Quito, Ecuador, in 2013. Moscow has already hosted the event twice, in 1957 and in 1985.
