'Road to Yalta' 2024 International WWII Song Festival Final

Contestants from 15 countries will perform heart-warming famous Soviet songs of the World War II-era in their native languages in the framework of the 6th International Music Festival “Road to Yalta,” on April 28 and May 1.

Sputnik is live from the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, where the final of the "Road to Yalta" international song contest takes place on Wednesday, May 1.

Solo performances by foreign vocalist competitors performing Soviet songs about World War II took place on the first day of the competition — April 28 — in the semi-final. For the final gala concert, foreign performers team up for duets with stars of Russian music and cinema.

In 2024, the organizing committee received 210 applications from vocalists from 55 countries.

15 foreign participants from Germany, Greece, Egypt, Indonesia, Italy, Cyprus, China, Congo, Madagascar, Mongolia, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Turkiye and France were picked after an online qualifying round and invited to Moscow. The names of the winners will be announced by a jury led by Russian singer Lev Leshchenko.

The annual event is organized by the Russkiy Mir [Russian World] Foundation. Last year's winner was Indonesian singer Laurentius Raymond Junior Pardamean.

Founded in 2019, the festival was aimed at preserving the legacy of Soviet war songs. The name of the festival refers to the Yalta Conference in 1945, during which Soviet leader Joseph Stalin discussed the post-war peace with then-British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and US President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The Yalta conference was the most important meeting of the Second World War, taking place on the eve of the European Axis powers’ defeat.

The project is aimed at preserving historical memory, safeguarding it against distortions and popularizing the best Soviet and Russian songs.

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