Top Russian DJs send greetings to Artek kids for 10th annual ACCF festival

The tenth Artek Children Creativity Fest is taking place at the International Children's Center, bringing together young DJs, entertainers, KVN comedy contestants and photographers to demonstrate what they have learned over their three-week session. In addition to the dance battle – a new event – this year’s festivalgoers enjoyed surprises and greetings from the country's most popular DJs. The Camp Khrustalny team were named the best dancers and DJs at the festival, while Camp Yantarny won the photography competition.

“Through this festival, we can introduce young people to festival culture and give them invaluable experience on a stage with professional equipment, a screen and, most importantly, with a live audience of a thousand people,” says Pavel Gryz, instructor at the DJing Studio. “Artek gives aspiring DJs as well as aspiring concert promoters, artists and photographers a unique opportunity to gain experience.”

Held for the tenth time, the ACCF has become one of the main creative events of each camp session. This time, it brought together more than 1,000 Artek members of the third session and tens of thousands of adults and children who watched the festival’s online broadcast. In just a few days, the festival’s videos were viewed over 68,000 times!

Photo projects were presented by teams of six Artek camps, and each Artek member could vote for his or her favorite work throughout the evening. Young photographers tried not only to take beautiful photos, but also to fill their photosets with real substance, to express some idea. The most votes were received by Camp Yantarny’s photo project, which clearly showed the vices and virtues of the modern world. Young photographers also gained experience as “field” photographers at the festival – overall, they took almost 700 shots full of emotion and vitality.

But the highlight of the evening was the performance by young DJs, whose sets had Artek dancing non-stop. Dance groups helped get the huge crowd of children and adolescents going, and faced off in the first-ever dance battle at the festival (won by Camp Khrustalny). The jury members were the only ones who remained serious and attentive. They were busy evaluating not only the DJs’ skill in mixing tracks into lit sets, but also how they worked the crowd, how well they combined sound with video, and how they fared as MCs.

The Camp Khrustalny team was named best DJ team of the third session, winning the main prize of the festival – the Golden Disc. “We decided that we would just go on stage, have fun and try to rock the crowd,” Svetlana Medvedkova, a member of the winning team from Karelia, said. “It was an unforgettable feeling – when you stand in front of a large audience of thousands, playing music and meeting their eyes. I want to take part in more events like this now.”

“This was my first try as an MC and as a DJ in general,” added Arina Unagayeva from Buryatia. “I would like to say thank you to Artek for this experience, for all that I learned and the outpouring for our team. I will never forget it.”

Along with the festival participants, spectators were also able to take part in some contests and win prizes. The most energetic kids on the dance floor received an honorary prize – a priority pass to the “animation area”, a magical place in the canteen where they were served the best Artek desserts.