The VIII International Folklore Festival "Keeping Traditions" was held offline and online in the period from 24 to 28 March 2022.The forum welcomed participants from multinational Russia - from Yakutia to Crimea; Krasnoyarsk and Altai; Orenburg, Lipetsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Tomsk; Moscow, St. Petersburg andLeningrad. The festival was attended by national diasporas from Adygea, the Caucasus, Chuvashia, as well as participants from Bulgaria, Hungary and Thailand.

Grand Prix winners of the forum are: Dance Group "Uran" at the Northeastern Federal University, with art director Nyurgun Indeev, Yakutsk and Maria Bakirova, with art director Svetlana Prokofieva, from Barnaul. The Audience Award was won by the Dowley School "Rhythms of the Mountains" - Art Director Ama Mahmudov, St. Petersburg. 

Natalia Polyakova, artistic director of Folklore group "Zabava" from Norilsk, was awarded the "Best Leader" prize.

Dance ensemble "Rhythms of the Caucasus" - artistic director Kristina Sanakoeva, St. Petersburg, received the award "For Preservation of Folklore Traditions".

The diploma "Best exhibit from the fifth exhibition of decorative and applied arts "Snow Models of Yakutia" was awarded to Anna Semenova, a folk artist from Yakutia, Balagachcha, Vilyuysk region, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).

All winners were awarded with memorable prizes by the partners of the festival.

The jury was composed of: Lyudmila Zorina - Honored Cultural Worker of the Russian Federation, lecturer and accompanist at the International Academy of Music of Elena Obraztsova (St. Petersburg); Aliya Kikenova - Honored Artist of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Cultural Ambassador of Kazakhstan to the Russian Federation (St. Petersburg); Razia Orlova - Chief Specialist of the Department for Interethnic Relations of the House of Nationalities in St. Petersburg (St. Petersburg); Olga Konova - choreographer, head of the dance school "City of Flowers", choreographer of the vocal ensemble "Volga Melodies", member of CID-UNESCO (Nizhny Novgorod); Valeri Zabara - sound director of the Russian Mikhail Chekhov Theater in Riga, producer, choreographer, former program director of the First Baltic Channel (Riga, Latvia). Olga Konova's master class "Traditional Russian dances and games for the holidays" was organized for the participants.

The event was supported by EAFF, the Commission on Interethnic Relations and the Implementation of Migration Policy in St. Petersburg, the House of Nationalities in St. Petersburg and the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) to the President of the Russian Federation.

Within the forum, the organizers held the fifth exhibition of decorative and applied arts "Snow Patterns of Yakutia". Thanks to the exhibition, the guests and participants of the festival got acquainted with the culture of the far North. The grand opening of the concerts took place at the House of Nationalities in St. Petersburg. The organizers of the competition are: the President of the NGO "Foundation for the Development of Culture of the Peoples of Siberia and the Far East "Northern Rainbow "- Alexandra Borisova, Deputy Director of the House of Nationalities in St. Petersburg - Olga Shulgina, Chief Adviser in St. Petersburg of the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) under the President of the Russian Federation - Evgeny Petrov. The head of the Dance school "City of Flowers" - Olga Konova, who is also a member of the jury of the event, greeted the participants. Oleg Kapitanov, Chairman of the Committee on Interethnic Relations and Implementation of Migration Policy in St. Petersburg, sent a congratulatory letter to the participants, guests and organizers.

The eighth edition of "Keeping Traditions" has once again become a platform for open communication and acquaintance with the culture and traditions of the peoples of Russia and other countries.