Director: Alexandra Borisova The VI International Music and Dance Festival "Friends in Moscow" (hereinafter referred to as the Festival) is held with the aim of developing, preserving, and popularizing the multinational culture of Russia. The idea of the festival is the development of public diplomacy and the establishment of friendship and peace on earth through music and dance. The festival contributes to the strengthening of civil peace and interethnic harmony and is aimed at developing and strengthening friendly cultural ties between creative teams from different countries. Children, youth and adult dance ensembles, choral groups, vocal ensembles and soloists, instrumental groups, as well as performers of other creative genres are invited to participate in the festival. The age of the participants is 5 years old and over. The festival-competition is held both offline (in person) and online (distant). Each participant performs 1 competition piece Genres of the competition: I. Vocal Duration of performance: no more than 4 minutes. II. Choral Duration of performance: no more than 4 minutes. III. Theatrical Duration of performance: no more than 4 minutes, theatrical no more than 10 minutes. IV. Instrumental Duration of performance: no more than 5 minutes. V. Folklore Duration of performance: no more than 5 minutes. VI. Fashion theatre Duration of performance: no more than 5 minutes. VII. Choreography Duration of performance: no more than 4 minutes, dance show up to 10 minutes. Age categories: 5-7 years old 8-9 years old 10-12 years old 13-16 years old 17-25 years old Over 25 Mixed In each age group, performers of a different age are allowed, but not more than 30% of the total number of performers. Video requirements: Both amateur and professional videos can participate. The shooting might be carried out on stage or home premises, as well as video from another competition or concert is allowed. Videos should be recorded without editing in one frame and posted on the You Tube channel. Only the competitive performance of the participants is presented on the video (full concert or video clips as well as video-presentations are not allowed). The faces, hands, feet of all participants in the video should be clearly visible. The video recording must be the original without the use of filters and other methods of correction or editing. By sending a link to the video, the participant automatically confirms his/her consent to the use of the material by third parties (organizers, jury members, other participants of the competition), as well as to post the video on the organizer’s website. The participant is responsible for complying with copyright laws and correctness of the materials provided. The file name must be made in the following form: City - Team - Number name. For example: India-Royal Folk-Bhangra Evaluation criteria: Complexity and technique of execution Artistic impression (image creation, content disclosure, emotionality, artistry) Presentation (costume, props, direction, musical accompaniment, selection of repertoire, stage design) Jury: To evaluate the competitive performances, a competent jury is created, which includes cultural and art workers, representatives of creative and public organizations from Russia and foreign countries. The list of jury members will not be disclosed until the start of the festival. The chairman of the jury has the right of 2 votes in case of a disputable situation. The jury does not take into account the age, material capabilities, social affiliation, nationality and place of residence of the contestants - only creativity on absolutely equal conditions in accordance with this regulation. The jury may decide to cancel the competition for one of the nominations or combine the age categories specified in this regulation, due to the insufficient number of applications submitted. The jury has the right to award not all prizes, to divide prizes among performers, to award special prizes to teachers for outstanding achievements, to decide on the termination of the performance, which goes beyond the regulations. The jury's decision is final and non-negotiable. Rewarding: In each nomination and age category, the titles of laureates of the I, II, III degrees, as well as the titles of diploma winners of the I, II, III degrees are awarded. The number of laureates and diploma winners is not limited, as there is a qualification system for evaluating the contestants, and not comparing them with each other. The Grand Prix is awarded only to one of the 1st degree laureates among children (under 18 years of age) and one of the 1st degree laureates among adults (18 years and over) who received the largest number of votes from the jury. All Grand Prix laureates and the 1st degree laureates are awarded with Certificates of nominee for the II International Award “Folk-Star”, which will be held during December 9-11, 2022, in Nizhniy Novgorod. At the same time, the Grand Prix winners participate in “Folk-Star-2022” without paying the festival registration fee. The best ensembles and soloists are invited to participate in tours and folklore festivals in Russia and abroad on preferential basis. The jury reserves the right not to award prizes and to change the number of prizes. Special Prizes: People’s Choice Award The best national costume For the preservation of folk traditions For the development of public diplomacy Participation fee: Financing of competition and festival events is carried out at the expense of targeted contributions (donations) of the participants of the event. Soloist - 19 Euro Duet - 30 Euro Trio - 36 Euro Quartet - 40 Euro Ensemble from 5 participants – 6 Euro per person Participation fee includes: an international diploma the letter of thanks to the Art Director Payment order: The participation fee is paid after filing in an application form and approval of the video for participation in the competition. The organizing team sends a Confirmation for participation with the necessary payment instructions to the approved groups. If the fee is paid by an organization, you must provide the details of the legal entity. Originals of documents (contract, invoice, certificate of completion) are sent by mail. The fees for the money transfers are at the expense of the sending party. Festival program: Up to 25th September – submission of Applications and videos October, 8th – Competition day. Presentation of videos during the competitive concert. October, 9th – Evaluation October, 10th-17th – Sending diplomas Any group willing to participate must submit an Application form. After approval from the organization committee, you will start direct communication with the organizer.