A team of 100 chefs from the All-Russian Gastronomic Map of Russia project will prepare 20,000 free tasting portions of regional and global dishes at the Taste of the Peoples of the World gastronomic festival, scheduled to run from September 11 to 17 as part of the International Festival of Youth (IFY) – 2026.
Global and Regional Cuisine in International Festival of Youth
The tasting area, covering more than 10,000 square metres next to the IFY main music stage, will accommodate up to 10,000 guests per day. The project is being carried out with support from the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives within the Youth and Children national project. Tavrida.ART is operating the IFY – 2026 cultural programme.
Organisers stated the event aims to demonstrate unity through food, presenting national dishes from participating countries alongside meals that have become culinary and tourist calling cards for Russian regions from the Far East to the Baltic.
“Food is a universal, nonverbal language through which every people can convey both what unites them with others and what makes them unique. Much like music, national cuisine is a great art form, one where genuine simplicity, honesty and love reach the hearts of millions,” the organisers noted.
The International Festival of Youth will offer more than 100 kinds of dishes and drinks. The menu features Syrian falafel and baba ganoush alongside Altai teerpek flatbreads, Belarusian draniki alongside sugudai made from Lena River whitefish, and Chinese jiaozi alongside Siberian pelmeni.
Mobile Russian stoves will bake Udmurt perepechi, Ural shangi, and Mari koman-melna pancakes. Guests will also be offered Dagestani chudu, Far Eastern chebureki filled with Kamchatka crab, Arctic ukha fish soup, and taiga-style solyanka.
Culinary Traditions and Master Classes
Irina Votintseva from Izhevsk, who runs a family business with her husband Alexei, will present perepechi, a signature Udmurt dish.
“Perepechi are open, round pies made from unleavened dough. The circle symbolizes the Sun, and for the Udmurt people, the Sun is a symbol of fertility, warmth and abundance. This dish has a long history — perepechi are already more than a thousand years old. The traditional fillings — meat, cabbage, and mushrooms — are all things that could be gathered in the forest,” Votintseva said.
“Perepechi must be baked in a true Russian stove, over an open flame, and are served hot and eaten with the hands. Inside, they stay very juicy, and it is that rich flavor people love them for. We will serve them alongside a fragrant herbal tea gathered in the protected natural areas of the Udmurt Republic, so that together they capture the traditions and atmosphere of our home region even better,” she added.
A gastronomic activities tent will host daily culinary demonstrations and master classes where around 30 experts will discuss culinary traditions and the origins of well-known dishes.
Inside the tent, an interactive art installation called the “Gastronomic Map of the World” will display foods, culinary traditions, and everyday objects reflecting global geography and culture. The exhibition will open on the first day of the International Festival of Youth in the presence of 300 honoured guests, including heads of Russian regions, political and public figures, cultural representatives, and delegates from participating countries.
World Youth Festival Legacy
The International Festival of Youth – 2026, which will welcome 10,000 participants, follows a series of international youth events. In accordance with a decree by Russian President Vladimir Putin on the development of international youth cooperation, the World Youth Festival took place in Sirius in March 2024, gathering 20,000 young leaders from 190 countries.
Festival events are now held annually across the Russian Federation to preserve the initiative’s legacy. In 2025, the World Youth Festival Assembly convened 2,000 young people from 120 countries in Nizhny Novgorod. The next full-scale World Youth Festival is scheduled for 2030, with 20,000 expected participants.
The World Youth Festival Directorate manages ongoing efforts to strengthen international youth cooperation and develop a global community of young people.
Meanwhile, Tavrida.ART ANO continues to develop the Tavrida art cluster—a platform of opportunities for young cultural and arts professionals operating since 2015. Included as part of the Russia – the Country of Opportunities federal project under the Youth and Children national project, the cluster features the Meganon Summer Schools of the Academy of Creative Industries, the Tavrida.ART Festival of Young Art, and a federal network of art residencies.
