The International Festival " The Earth Planet is Our Habitat " is 20 years old
The 20th International Student Festival " The Earth Planet is Our Habitat " was held at Belgorod State Technological University named after V.G. Shukhov, which celebrated its anniversary with a gala concert in the Student Palace of Culture. The organizer is traditionally the Preparatory Faculty for Foreign Citizens. Thousands of foreign students from Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America who come to study in Russia have taken part in the festival over the years.
The international festival has become a bright and long-awaited event in the cultural life of the university, which annually brings together more than 1,500 students. This is a large-scale intercultural project to implement a model of active creative extracurricular activities with foreign students, which contributes to their socio-cultural and linguistic adaptation, and improves the general level of proficiency in the Russian language.
The festival " The Earth Planet is Our Habitat " allows students to develop their intellectual and creative potential. As part of the festival in 2025, an Olympiad in Russian as a Foreign Language, interesting quizzes on various subjects, an essay competition "Terrorism is a Global Problem of Our Time", an Olympiad in Russian language and speech culture "Thought. Word. Deed", a public speaking competition "Today it is relevant" and others were held.
The festive events took place over two days: on May 20, an exhibition of national cultures opened, where guests got acquainted with the traditions, national costumes, souvenirs and cuisine of the peoples of the world, and already on May 22, on the stage of the Students Art Centre, students of BSTU and other Belgorod universities demonstrated their talents and national color in a vibrant concert program. Participation in the festival is a unique opportunity to get familiarized with the culture of different peoples better, establish useful international contacts and share an atmosphere of friendship and cooperation.
“Our university has been training professionals for foreign countries since 1993. During this time, more than 50,000 students from various countries have learned Russian and got a qualification,” emphasized Vice-Rector for International Affairs Ruslan Lesovik.
In his welcoming speech, Ruslan Lesovik noted that the festival is a landmark international event and thanked the partner universities for their participation, and the staff of the Preparatory Faculty for Foreign Citizens for organizing it.
“We have got together for the 20th time at the festival to enjoy the creativity, talents, and traditions of students who came from different parts of the world. I want the impressions of the festival to leave vivid memories in the hearts of each participant,” said Elena Legochkina, Dean of the Preparatory Faculty for Foreign Citizens, from the stage.
The first number of the concert program was the traditional show of national costumes. Students from Angola, Algeria, Benin, Haiti, Guinea-Bissau, Cameroon, China, Mali, Morocco, Nigeria, Serbia, Sudan, Togo, Tunisia, Chad, and Sri Lanka came out to the stage with the flags of their countries. The audience warmly supported the appearance of each participant on stage.
The first stop on this journey around planet Earth was Russia, a place where young people from different countries met and found a second home. The festival guests were greeted with lively Russian dances by the exemplary folk dance ensemble "Sokolyata" under the direction of Natalia Rybina. The song "Mother Earth, White Birch" was performed by Fatma Zaibi from Tunisia.
Then the baton was taken up by the guests from the Belgorod State Agrarian University named after V.Ya. Gorin, who seemed to transport the auditorium to Ecuador, a country of fiery dances. Also, the international choir of BelGAU performed the song "Bird of Happiness" accompanied by a button accordion.
Students from Serbia in national costumes performed a Serbian folk dance. The national dance of Turkmenistan from representatives of the National Research University "BelSU" caused a stormy reaction from the support group. The audience was filled with emotions and fiery energy by dance performances by students from Cameroon and Morocco. The rhythms of dances were followed by vocal performances, which vividly demonstrated the talents of students from different countries. The representative of China, Yan Tingyi, performed a lyrical composition. Taha Sowat from Morocco, a representative of Belgorod University of Cooperation, Economics and Law, also demonstrated his vocal abilities.
The female vocal ensemble of the Academic Choir of the National Research University "BelSU" under the guidance of artistic director Uruzmag Tandelov performed the composition "Girls are standing aside". Bazin Loriberson Divenson and Pierre Vit Clarendy Jonathan from Haiti, joined by Uruzmag Tandelov, brilliantly performed the song "Belle" from the musical "Notre Dame de Paris". Vocal compositions were also performed by Kasseu Josué from Haiti, the duet from Indonesia Anaktototi Rian Ibrahim and Mambrasar Grace Sinche, and other foreign students of Belgorod universities. The culmination of the holiday was the joint performance of the anthem of the Preparatory Faculty for Foreign Citizens by the festival participants. Students from different countries of the world, hugging on stage, were singing together: "Our preparatory faculty is the best! Our preparatory faculty is the friendliest!" And this is indeed true, because the acquaintance with Russia and education for foreign students began with the preparatory faculty, where a love for the Russian language and culture is instilled, and young people become part of a global community striving to unite the peoples of the Earth with a common reason - peace and mutual understanding!
