Saratov University students took an active part in the 1st Smart City. Live with Sports All-Russian Games. They participated in it as athletes, performers, volunteers, and viewers of many sporting events, as well as opening and closing ceremonies.

The opening ceremony, which took place on September 2, was attended by Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitrii Chernyshenko, Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of Russia in Volga Federal District Igor Komarov, and Acting Governor of Saratov Region Roman Busargin. The SSU delegation was represented by Rector Aleksei Chumachenko, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs Igor Malinskii, and Vice-Rector for Youth Policy and Organisational Work Anton Golovchenko. According to the organisers, about 40 thousand viewers attended the opening ceremony.

The guests began to gather in the stands at 7 p.m. Talented creative groups performed in front of them on a floating stage complex. They entertained the audience with charming songs and incendiary dances. The KNFAM dance group of SSU and the choreographic group of the Faculty of Biology titled Look at them gave the audience of the ceremony a memorable performance. Head of the amateur arts group of the SSU Student Club Kristina Nakhapetyan acted as the curator of the Saratov group of dancers. Bright performances were accompanied by loud ovations from the residents of the city.

More than 600 participants were involved in the organisation of the colourful holiday, primarily creative groups and musicians. More than 320 volunteers were involved in the main facilities, including 30 SSU students – activists of the movement of the Russian Student Brigades and the Council of Undergraduates and Postgraduates.

The start of the Games was given at exactly 8.22 p.m. Before that, there was a countdown on the big screen, which was accompanied by interesting facts from the history of the region. The organisers noted that Saratov Region was a student region – eleven universities were located in it. The text was accompanied by a photo of Building X of Saratov University – one of the main universities in the region and a landmark of the city.

The exciting moment of the beginning of the holiday was the honours to the nation by outstanding regional athletes, who glorified the country at the world level. SSU graduates were among them –  2012 Olympic Champion, silver medal winner of the 2012 Olympic Games in synchronized jumping from a 3-meter springboard, World Champion in diving, Honoured Master of Sports of Russia Ilya Zakharov, a champion and multiple medal winner of the Summer Paralympic Games, World and European Champion in swimming among impaired muscle power athletes, Honoured Master of Sports of Russia Denis Tarasov, and a participant of the Summer Olympic Games in London, a silver and bronze medal winner of the World Championships, European Champion in rowing and canoeing, Honoured Master of Sports of Russia Natalia Stukalskaya (Lobova). The Russian anthem was performed by the combined choir and the symphony orchestra of Saratov State Conservatoire conducted by Mikhail Myasnikov.

Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Dmitrii Chernyshenko announced the greeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin to the participants of the 1st Smart City. Live with Sports All-Russian Games. ‘It is gratifying that every year more and more people are joining the values of a healthy lifestyle. Undoubtedly, it is promoted by such popular, large-scale initiatives as your project. Having united representatives of various ages and professions, and above all IT-specialists, at the stadiums and venues of Saratov, the Games convincingly testify to the huge consolidating and creative potential of sports, its high and noble mission.’

Dmitrii Chernyshenko noted that the Russian Government paid great attention to the development of professional and mass sports. ‘The participants of the competitions, and this is more than a thousand representatives of state and municipal authorities, as well as business from 30 regions, have showed by personal example the importance of sports in life. I believe that the Games should become annual and, as the President rightly indicated, will be an incentive for regular training for even more Russians.’

Acting Governor of Saratov Region Roman Busargin spoke about the importance of holding the Games in Saratov. ‘Today, Saratov is again the first, and we are proud of it. Our city has been chosen as the capital of the All-Russian Games. And when you are the first, it is honourable and responsible. We are grateful to the President, the Government of the Russian Federation, and all the organizers of this holiday. Thanks to all our guests. Today we are together.’

The main characters of the show were children played by Renata Yeremeyeva and Kirill Ryabov, pupils of the Children's Art School No. 3 of Engels Municipal District. Reading a book about the history of their small homeland, they got acquainted with the milestones of the city development: with the ancient Golden Horde city of Uvek, with the founders of Saratov, Prince Zasekin, and Boyar Turov. The children learned about how Peter the Great travelled along the Volga on a ship and visited Saratov, about the role of Peter Stolypin in the development of Saratov.

The audience saw some episodes of the city history performed by actors. Thus, the performance of the Saratov Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre was dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the historic visit of Peter the Great to Saratov. At the tsar's exit, the Peter canto, an ancient polyphonic spiritual and secular song without instrumental accompaniment, was performed by the Regional Choral Music Theatre of the Saratov Region Philharmonic.

The next episode of the theatrical performance was devoted to the times of Pyotr Stolypin. It was performed by the actors and singers of the Saratov Regional Operetta Theatre. Oleg Klishin, an actor of the Saratov State Academic Drama Theatre, who starred as Stolypin in the Stolypin ... Unlearned Lessons film, acted as the great statesman. The audience enjoyed it.

The brightest and most memorable part of the holiday was not only the pyrotechnic show, but also the performance of the Flying People group of flyboarders. The audience applauded very loudly to the performance of the Art-Hey Marx circus.

The long-awaited climax of the holiday was the performance of a popular Russian singer Niletto (Danil Prytkov), the author of the hits known among young people in the genres of pop and hip-hop. He performed his two incendiary songs, Favourite and If You Feel Sad.

A whole block of the ceremony was dedicated to Saratov students. Saratov is a student city, with about 80 thousand people studying at universities. The opening ceremony was attended by many first-year students, for them this holiday coincided with the beginning of a new academic year. The names and logos of the Saratov universities were highlighted on the laser projection, the very first university in the presentation was Saratov State University.

The musical programme was presented by the staff of Saratov Conservatoire. The musicians of the Bel suono three grand piano show performed a medley that was enjoyed by all the guests of the holiday. To the accompaniment of charming music, European Ballroom Dance Champions Aleksei Surzhin and Arina Yeliseyeva performed an enchanting tango.

The bright show continued to the Flight by Alfred Schnittke, which accompanied the performance of acrobats performing professional tricks on a trampoline.

The ceremony ended with the anthem of the Smart City. Live with Sports Games – the We Are Together song of a popular singer Oleg Gazmanov. The consolidated vocal student team under the leadership of Victoria Kovsharova performed a musical composition for a memorable show of the flyboarders.

The closing ceremony took place on September 4. According to the results of the Games, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District took the third place in the team competition, Leningrad Region took the second position, and Saratov Region became the winner.

Deputy Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in Volga Federal District Oleg Mashkovtsev noted the high organisation of the Games. ‘Saratov has become the first city to host the Games, and it is always honourable and responsible. The organisers managed to successfully combine the business and sports parts of the programme. This is exactly what smart cities and regions that want to be the first do.’

‘During these three days, the Games have opened a new page in the development of our cities. In construction, transport, landscaping, tourism, the introduction of digital technologies. But smart cities are not just about infrastructure. These are sports people. When they compete and win like this, it proves our strength and our unity,’ Acting Governor of Saratov Region Roman Busargin said at the closing ceremony.

You can watch the footage from the opening ceremony titled Look Around in the official SSU account on Rutube. The detailed photo report can be found here.

Read about the achievements of our athletes in the news feed of the SSU website.