Fr om April 24 to 28, 2026, the 8th International Music Competition-Festival «Road to Yalta» will take place in Moscow. In the capital of Russia, famous songs beloved by many generations about the Great Patriotic War will sound in different languages of the world, performed by vocalists from 15 countries.
The festival, which started in 2019 in Yalta, is today one of the most significant annual cultural events in the country and the brightest television projects dedicated to the Great Victory. Since 2022, «Road to Yalta» has been hosted by Moscow; since 2023, the final stage of the competition has been held in the State Kremlin Palace. Live broadcasts of concerts are watched by residents of Russian regions; viewers from dozens of countries join the broadcast online. The idea of preserving and conveying through songs the historical memory of the Great Patriotic War, glorifying the image of the Soviet and Russian soldier-liberator, and reminding of the terrible price that our country and our people had to pay for deliverance from the plague of fascism was laid into the «Road to Yalta» festival by its president Andrey Kondrashov and artistic director Ernest Matskevichyus.
Over the years of the festival's existence, the organizing committee has received more than 1,300 applications from 60 countries. Our famous front-line songs have sounded in 25 languages. Some artists, upon returning to their countries, include them in their permanent repertoire. After all, the ancestors of many of them fought fascism during World War II – as soldiers, partisans, participants in resistance movements, which is what the festival's finalists talk about.
«The 'Road to Yalta' festival is conducted on a competitive basis. In 2026, the organizing committee received 172 applications from vocalists from 58 countries. In the selection online round, the jury determined participants from 15 countries. Performers have been invited to Moscow, and their competitive fate will be decided at the final concerts, which will take place in two stages. The names of the winners will be announced from the stage of the State Kremlin Palace. The finalists of 2026 are representatives of Bulgaria, Brazil, Ghana, India, Spain, Italy, China, Colombia, Cuba, Mongolia, Nigeria, Serbia, USA, Tunisia, and France», - said the organizers.
Solo performances by vocalists, wh ere they will perform Soviet war songs in their native languages, will take place on the first competition day – April 24 – at the VAO «Mossoviet» Cultural Center. On April 28, in the final – at the gala concert in the Grand Hall of the State Kremlin Palace – foreign performers will perform in duets with stars of the Russian stage: Makan, Alexander Oleshko, Anna Kovalchuk, Yaroslav Sumishevsky, Askar Abdrazakov, Alexander Dobronravov, Alexey Petruhin, Igor Petrenko and others.
Festival gala concert viewers, as always, will be in for surprises: participants and laureates from previous seasons of the project will take the stage, as well as children's musical ensembles: the Choir of Firsts, the Variety Choir of Sasha Kolchak's Production Center, the Choir of the International Academy of Music of Nikolai Agutin.
The jury, which includes Special Representative of the President of Russia for International Cultural Cooperation Mikhail Shvydkoy, President of the Kurchatov Institute Research Center Mikhail Kovalchuk, People's Artist of Russia Denis Maydanov, Honored Artist of Russia Kai Metov, Honored Artist of Russia Alexander F. Skylar, Honored Artist of Russia Yuta, will determine the laureates of «Road to Yalta» 2026. The permanent chairman of the jury is People's Artist of the RSFSR Lev Leshchenko.
