The 9th China International Youth Arts Festival will be held from August 12-27. [Photo provided to Chinaculture.org]

The 9th China International Youth Arts Festival will be held from August 12-27, announced at a Ministry of Culture press conference on July 20.

While the main session will be in Beijing, there will be parallel sessions in nine first-tier cities, including Shanghai, Guangzhou and Jinan. During the festival, 187 carefully-selected programs from 36 countries, including China, America and Russia, will be displayed in various forms: concert, opera, dance, musical play, exhibition, forum and workshop. The main session will boast special activities designed for youths, such as the "China and Uzbekistan Youth Cultural Communication Day" and "Youth Cultural Festival of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao".

As China's first state-level, international, multicultural festival for youths, the event has been celebrated successfully eight times since its foundation in 2008. The festival has received enormous government and social support, sponsored by the China International Culture Association, China Arts and Entertainment Group, and undertaken by the China Performing Arts Agency (CPAA) Theatres and China Cultural International Tours Inc.