MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The XIX World Festival of Youth and students is scheduled for October 14-21, and expects to attract young specialists aged between 18 and 35 from different spheres worldwide. The event’s limit of participants is set at 20,000.
The organizer noted that some 120,000 bids were received online, while those remaining were still being submitted by the national preparatory committees of the event’s member states.
All accepted participants will be granted free Russian visas, Petushkov noted.
"The decision was made to issue preferential visas for the foreign nationals. The rules are the same as for the ordinary visas, however the visas will be free of charge for the delegations and participants of the festival," the organizer added.
In May, the event’s organizers told Sputnik that over 60,000 Russians had submitted participation bids for the festival.
Sochi was chosen to host the 2017 festival by the general assembly of the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY) in 2015. 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, Equador, in late 2013. Moscow has already hosted the event twice: in 1957 and in 1985.
