Youth and Students Day in Belarus Date in the current year: June 30, 2024

The history of the holiday dates back to 1958, when the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet established the Day of Soviet Youth, celebrated on the last Sunday of June. The holiday was marked by concerts, parades, sports competitions, various contests, and other events, which were primarily organized by the Komsomol (the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League). After the collapse of the USSR, many former Soviet republics canceled the holiday or moved it to another date, but Belarus continued to celebrate Youth Day on the last Sunday of June.

Belarusian Youth Day was officially established by a presidential decree adopted in 1995. It was subsequently included to the list of official holidays in the decree “On Public Holidays and Memorable Dates in the Republic of Belarus” adopted in 1998. In 2021, President Alexander Lukashenko renamed it Youth and Students Day in order to elevate the status of students, strengthen their role in public and political life, and unite students and working youth.

There are many youth organizations and unions in Belarus, both national and regional. Some of the best known include: the Republican Public Association “Belarusian League of Intellectual Teams” (BLIK), the Belarusian Republican Pioneer Organization, the Belarusian Republican Youth Union, the Belarusian Youth Public Organization of Rescuers and Firefighters, the Republican Youth Public Organization “League of Voluntary Youth Labor”, the Belarusian Republican Scout Association, and more.

Interestingly, Ukraine used to celebrate its Youth Day on the same day as Belarus. However, in 2021, it was moved to coincide with International Youth Day established by the United Nations. This leaves Belarus as the only former Soviet republic to still celebrate Youth Day on the last Sunday of June (although Russia’s Youth Day is celebrated closely enough, on June 27).