The "Volga Meetings" festival shapes future professionals and leaders.

      Almost 800 aspiring journalists from 56 regions of Russia, as well as from Belarus, participated in the International Festival of Youth Media and Film Studios "Volga Meetings-36," which took place in two stages - in the Tver region and in Chuvashia. In the Tver region, the festival was supported by the Ministry of Youth Policy of the Tver region, and the administrations of the cities of Rzhev and Staritsa. With the support of the Ministry of Digital Development, Information Policy, and Mass Communications of the Chuvash Republic, the festivals "Volga Meetings-36" and "Media Takeoff" were held together.

      More than 300 master classes, training sessions, and creative meetings were conducted for the participants. In turn, the young talents created over 700 texts, stories, videos, film works, cartoons, and photo reports. While mastering the basics of professional skills, the participants managed to exchange ideas, establish friendships, and create new creative projects.

      The "Volga Meetings" festival is a true school of modern journalism: working in real-time, creating media products, live television broadcasts, master classes from federal-level professionals, and participation in press conferences with representatives of regional authorities. The geography of the festival is impressive: from the Murmansk region and Kaliningrad to Transbaikalia and Yakutia. At the festival, both teams of young journalists, filmmakers, and animators from large cities and children's studios from small villages feel equally comfortable.

      During the festival days, the participants gained a wealth of new knowledge about the work of directors, journalists, operators, actors, filmmakers, animators, lighting technicians, producers, and other media professions, and now they have enough inspiration to improve for a whole year! One of the most memorable events of the festival was the "Journalistic Special Forces" - a business trip for aspiring journalists to small towns in the Tver region and the Chuvash Republic. Immersed in the atmosphere of Torzhok, Rzhev, Staritsa, and the Morgau district for several hours, the young journalists released a series of reports about their discoveries while getting to know small towns and villages. The program at the Photo Laboratory in Tver also left a lasting impression on the participants, where the kids learned about the historical photographic process, taking on the roles of alchemists who obtained photographs using silver and light. At the honey factory in the Chuvash village of Novye Shaltyamy, the children learned about the process of making "sweet gold." At the "Melilotus" cooperative in Novye Shaltyamy, in addition to honey, carbonated drinks, honey kvass, and packaged tea made from beneficial herbs grown in the fields of this farm are produced. During the excursion, the kids tasted a variety of the enterprise's products and tried their hand at creating blends of fragrant herbs for tea. The village of Novye Shaltyamy left a pleasant impression and an understanding that life in the countryside can be rich and diverse.

      Bright impressions also remained from the evening cruise on the Volga from the Cheboksary river port. At the children's sanatorium "Forest Tale," the young journalists communicated with the head of Chuvashia, Oleg Nikolaev. He mentioned that he is happy to support festivals as they set the necessary and important directions for the development and professional self-determination of youth.

      More than fifty expert speakers attended the "Volga Meetings-36." The most notable among them were: producer of the "My Planet" and "Living Planet" TV channels Roman Lobashov, actors Ksenia Ivanova and Yegor Salnikov, author of books on school TV Stanislav Razumov, director and screenwriter Dmitry Voznesensky, TV directors Igor Romanovsky and Oleg Chelnokov, and the best camp leader in Russia Stanislav Kurokhtin. The festival "Volga Meetings" hosted the premiere of the short film "Treasure," presented by film director Ilya Severov. The film about besieged Leningrad received applause from the entire audience!

      The work of the "Volga Meetings" was structured so that during the festival, the participants could produce a finished media product. Pavel and Vera Ivanov, leading the "Animation" direction, guided the kids from the stage of writing the script for their animated video to filming and editing. Print journalism at the festival was overseen by journalists Anna Petrova from Murom and Natalia Polyakova from Volgograd - they assisted the kids in publishing the festival newspaper. Master classes in TV journalism and film were conducted by several experts and helped the kids gain experience, creating numerous video works and short films together with them. Over several days, participants mastered the skills of directing, cinematography, screenwriting, and public speaking. Special attention was paid to safety in the digital environment: at the specialized site "Cyber Shield," experts taught teenagers to recognize information threats and protect their content.

      The mentors themselves were also kept busy. A round table for delegation leaders, teachers, and high school students on "Media and Pedagogy" was conducted by Professor Alexey Korshunov, Dean of the Faculty of Pedagogy and Psychology at the Moscow Social-Pedagogical Institute. The educational block included master classes from leading federal and regional experts. The festival organizers believe that other cities along the Volga can also become centers for the development of children's media and film creativity. The next stage of "Volga Meetings-36" will take place in September 2026 in the Nizhny Novgorod region, and during the winter holidays of 2027, the festival will be held in Kazan. The bright and useful program will set a powerful creative development vector for participants for the entire following academic year.

      More news about the event:

      The "Volga Meetings" festival is shaping future professionals and leaders. Almost 800 aspiring journalists from 56 regions of Russia, as well as from Belarus, participated in the International Festival of Youth Media and Film Studios "Volga Meetings-36," 10:16 25.05.2026 Sechenovsky Municipal District - Sechenovo

      The "Volga Meetings" festival is shaping future professionals and leaders. Almost 800 aspiring journalists from 56 regions of Russia, as well as from Belarus, participated in the International Festival of Youth Media and Film Studios "Volga Meetings-36," 09:35 25.05.2026 Vachsky Municipal District - Vacha