Penza, 2 March 2018. PenzaNews. The two-day international youth and students festival Lastochka, which started its work in Penza in the morning of March 2, was officially announced open during a ceremony held in the sports and entertainment complex Diesel Arena.

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The stands at the central arena, which can accommodate 5,500 people, were almost fully occupied by audience. In addition, people were sitting in the stalls – for this purpose chairs had been placed in the middle of the hall.

The audience consisted of students of all Penza universities including students of the Penza branch of the Army General Khrulev Military Academy of Material and Technical Supply and college representatives.

Teams of cheerleaders were sitting in corner sectors.

A big screen on the stage allowed the audience to see the ceremony and what was going on at the stands.

The official part was opened by a dance performance, which played up the name of the festival – the artists were wearing black and white costumes symbolizing swallows.

There was also the Parade of Nations that united representatives of over 50 countries who had come to Penza to study. The procession was opened by citizens of Armenia and finished by residents of Russia including not only Russians but also Mordovians, Tatars, Chuvashes and other nationalities. They were joined by representatives of Penza youth organizations.

After the young people lined up around the perimeter of the area to participate in a flag-raising ceremony, the flag was brought into by three youth people from Lebanon, India and Russia.

Turning to those present the governor of the Penza region Ivan Belozertsev noted that for modern youth the sky is the limit.

"I sincerely wish you good health [...] and decent education that will subsequently help you to work, develop your regions [...] and Russia as a whole," the head of the region said.

In turn, the Minister of Education and Science of Russia Olga Vasilyeva, who was in Penza on a business trip, drew attention to the fact that the programme of the festival Lastochka included very important issues.

In particular, she expressed readiness to consider the issue of increasing the quota for foreign students studying in Penza universities.

The Children's Rights Commissioner for President of Russia, native of Penza Anna Kuznetsova also turned to the guests.

"You are brave, real, strong. [...] The future belongs to those who know how to negotiate, who can listen to each other," she said.

The Children's Rights Commissioner presented the badge "The Ardent Heart" to Pavel Romzhaev and Vladislav Grigoryev after which Ivan Belozertsev announced the festival opened.

The three honoured guests received statuettes of the festival as a gift and they left the stage and the hall.

Then, it was a turn of Javier Hurtado Mira, chairman of the Democrat Youth Community of Europe, and Grigory Petushkov, head of the National Youth Council of Russia, to give a speech. After they had finished, a concert programme began.

The special guest of the event was Timur Rodrigez, a Penza native.