The Seventh Open Youth Delphic Games of the CIS Member States were held in Astana, the Republic of Kazakhstan on September 24-29, 2012. Over 1000 artists from 16 countries - Afghanistan, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Ukraine - took part in the event. The Higher Forum of Arts united the artistic youth, giving a deeper insight on cultures of different nations and establishing friendly and constructive relations between participants. Truly talented young people received a great chance of entering the world-class competition stages.
The Seventh Open Youth Delphic Games of the Commonwealth took place in accordance with the decision of the Council of Heads of Governments of the CIS Member States on «The main activities of cooperation of the Commonwealth of Independent States in the field of culture till 2015» from May 19, 2011, with the decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the approval of the “»State Program of Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2011-2020» ¹922 from February 1, 2010, with the order of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan «On the Seventh Open Youth Delphic Games of the CIS Member States» from July 13, 2012 ¹126-p, and in accordance with the Conceptual Regulations on holding the Delphic Games (International) and the Youth Delphic Games (International), approved by the Session of the International Delphic Committee on February 6, 2004.
The Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the National Delphic Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Akimat of Astana acted as the organizing parties for the Games. The event was supported by the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the National Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan for UNESCO and ISESCO, Interstate Fund for Humanitarian Cooperation of the CIS Member States, Council for Cultural Cooperation of the CIS Member States and the Working Group on the Development of the Delphic Movement in the CIS countries. The Games were held under the auspices of the International Delphic Committee.
The Official opening ceremony of the Seventh Open Youth Delphic Games of the CIS was held on September 25, 2012 at the Central Concert Hall «Kazakhstan» and was attended by 3500 people. The colorful theatricalized performance with the parade of the participating countries was set before the spectators. The Chairman of the Organizing Committee on preparing and holding the Seventh Open Youth Delphic Games of the CIS Member States, the Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan Bakytjan Zhumagulov, the Deputy Head of the President’s Executive Office of the Republic of Kazakhstan Baghlan Mailybaev, who read the welcoming address of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, the Director of the International Delphic Committee Vladimir Ponyavin greeted the audience. The Minister of Culture and Information of the Republic of Kazakhstan Darkhan Mynbai and the Minister of Labor and Social Protection of Population of the Republic of Kazakhstan Gulshara Abdykalikova were among honored guests.
Competitions were held in the form of contest and festival programs in 19 nominations of folk, classical and contemporary art: piano, violin, saxophone, accordion, academic singing, folk singing, pop singing, classical dance, folk dance, modern dance, stage circus, photography, fine art, web design, poetry, TV journalism, DJ, folk arts, folk instruments. Best venues of Astana were used as the stages for the competitions: Kazakh Music and Drama Theatre named after Kalibek Kuanyshbaev, State Academic Russian Dramatic Theatre named after Maxim Gorky, Kazakh National University of Arts, National Opera and Ballet Theatre named after Kulyash Bayseitova, Lev Gumilyov Eurasian National University, etc.
The jury formed for each category consisted of 60 masters of arts of standing reputation from 11 countries. A total of 35 sets of awards were bestowed during the Games. Laureates from 12 countries received gold, silver and bronze medals.
The official closing ceremony of the Seventh Open Youth Delphic Games of the CIS Member States and the gala-concert of the laureates were held on September 28, 2012 at the Palace of Peace and Harmony. All participating countries were introduced during the ceremony and the laureates of the Games appeared on stage with joint performance acts.
The headquarters for the working staff, consisting of more than 20 departments, was operating throughout the Games. More than 500 university students of Astana, who went through a careful selection and training, were involved as volunteers.
A full-scale information and advertising campaign, involving television and radio stations, news agencies, outdoor advertising, press, online resources and even applying flash mobs was held during the preparing and holding of the Games. The TV channel «Mir» took an active part in promoting and covering the event.
