The youth of Europe, whip up!

On 23 September Narva traditionally acquires the status of autumn capital of Estonia. This year however, with Tallinn being a European Cultural Capital 2011, Narva will for 91 days become the autumn cultural capital of Europe. It has been decided that the celebrations will focus on youth and the activities will cater for young people's interest regardless from which country they might come from.

The preliminary programme of the "Youth in European Culture"festivities is packed with events. There is going to be a carnival procession along the main streets of Narva, where all kinds of fancy dresses and costumes are welcome: from historical characters typical for the olden days to bizarre creatures of futuristic designs. For the entire day the stages on the territory of Narva Castle will be given to music bands and dance groups representing all styles and genres. In a cozy nook of the Castle there is going to be an open-air cinema, showing world-famous blockbusters.

A stunning show where a separate group of dancers creates the flag of every EU-member state using umbrellas as props and performs national dances accompanied by the music of a respective country promises to attract huge audiences - not only will it be colourful and nicely choreographed, it will also look extravagant.

Another extraordinary feature of the celebration is an improvised Art Street which will invite everyone to try their hand at various skills from making a national wooden doll, or a personal pin to painting a picture. The magnet of the Street is undoubtedly going to be a 3D permanent street painting done by a famous professional - something that no other city in the country has ever seen before. Here everyone can pose for a camera shot and send a peculiar picture to surprise theirfriends and relatives. Closertowards the evening, a guest-star, DJ Slon, will ignite the public on the dance floor under the starry sky inside the walls of the ancient Castle. Finally, with the closing accords of the DJ's last track, the skies will brighten with spectacular fireworks and fill with thousands voices of the young crowd cheering loudly on. The meeting of the local Youth Parliament on the hottest issues of European youngsters and an exciting "city-raid" contest are scheduled for the following day.