TWO DAYS OF SPORTS AND YOUTH

The Sports and Youth Fair will be held at the Novi Sad Fair on Friday, 9 and Saturday, 10 October. This year, it lasts two days, instead of one as was previously the practice, given that Novi Sad is the European City of Sport 2026, it was announced today at the Novi Sad Fair.

"The Sports and Youth Fair is one of the central events of the City of Novi Sad in the field of sports and youth, and a place where we want to connect sports, children and youth, sports and youth organisations, institutions and citizens. After the title of European Youth Capital 2019, and in the year in which Novi Sad holds the title of European City of Sport 2026, the Fair will get a new format, two-day duration, richer programme and new opportunities for networking and cooperation. During the two days, visitors will have the opportunity to get to know a large number of sports, clubs and federations, youth organisations, their programmes and activities, to socialise with young people from youth organisations, athletes and coaches and participate in various sports, educational and interactive content, announced Tatjana Medved, Member of the City Council for Sports and Youth. - The first day is especially dedicated to school children, because we want to enable them to get to know as many sports as possible, to try them out and maybe find the sport they will want to do at the Fair. On the second day, the focus will be on competitive sports, but also on the active participation of young people, connecting cities from Serbia and the region and exchanging experiences. This year, we have significantly expanded the professional program of the Fair, through panel forums dedicated to major international events, sports, investments and lasting heritage, as well as the topics of youth work, volunteerism and active participation of young people in the development of the city. I would especially like to highlight the cooperation with EXPO 2027, through a panel on the importance of major events for the development of cities, the presentation of the volunteer program "EXPO Playmakers" and the launch of the program "NOVI SAD VOLUNTEERS – NS VOLUNTEER HUB", which should create new opportunities for the inclusion of young people and citizens in volunteer, social and international activities, added Tatjana Medved. - At the same time, we want the Fair to be a place where new ideas, partnerships and concrete cooperation programs are created. That is why on Saturday we will gather representatives of cities from Serbia and the region at the working meeting "Sport that connects cities", with a special emphasis on school sports, programs for children and youth, exchange of athletes, coaches and experts, sports camps, events and joint projects. This year, we further confirm the institutional and regional connection with the participation of representatives of the competent ministries of sports of the Republic of Srpska and North Macedonia, which opens up space for strengthening cooperation and the exchange of good practices, concluded Tatjana Medved.

"It has already been said that this is a specific year for the City of Novi Sad because of the title of the European City of Sport that it carries. I would like to point out that the City Sports Association has been participating in the organization of this fair for a long time, and we are extremely proud to have been participating in this for many years. We help clubs, we are here to help the organization, to present their contents. You will have the opportunity to see representatives of various sports clubs and sports organizations on Friday, said Slađana Drezgić, President of the City Sports Association of Novi Sad. - Our wish is for children to come, see these contents and try their hand at some sport, and then maybe decide to play some of these sports. We are proud of what is happening in Novi Sad and I take the opportunity to invite all children, all schools, kindergartens, to visit this Sports and Youth Fair, an event that should definitely be seen, concluded Drezgić.

"First of all, I would like to thank the City of Novi Sad for recognizing the importance of involving young people in the Sports and Youth Fair in 2023 and for giving young people the space to be active participants in this important event. We are especially pleased that Novi Sad once again shows that it is a city that recognizes the needs of young people, invests in sports and youth and gives us the opportunity to be part of an event of importance for our city and our country. We are proud to say that Novi Sad is a leader when it comes to connecting sports, youth and social activism. Unfortunately, this level of youth involvement is still not a practice in all cities in our country, which is why the example of Novi Sad is even more important, said Nikola Veselinović, from the Novi Sad Youth Forum. - We are grateful to the City of Novi Sad for recognizing young people as one of the most important resources and factors in the development of our society. That is why the slogan of this year's Fair is – "Sport connects. Youth moves." – something that best describes what we want to convey from this event. Sport connects us, while young people have the energy, ideas and potential to initiate change, added Veselinović. - When it comes to the program that awaits visitors in the youth part of the Fair this year, youth organizations dealing with various areas of youth activism will be presented, from volunteering and social engagement to the development of skills and the involvement of young people in decision-making processes. I would also like to single out the public training with Nadja Mitov, which awaits us on Saturday in the youth part of the Fair. In addition, numerous panels will be organized, where representatives of institutions will discuss topics that are important for their position, active participation and future together with young people. Also, we are proud that at this year's Fair we will promote EXPO 2027, as well as the Playmakers program, i.e. opportunities for the inclusion of young people, but also our fellow citizens of the older generation, in the activities that will accompany this great international event, Veselinović announced. - We especially want to invite young people to get involved in the volunteer program. So far, more than 15,000 people have applied for volunteering, and our goal is to make that number even higher. We believe that young people can make a special contribution to the organization of EXPO 2027 and that with their knowledge, energy and ideas they can be part of the event that will represent Serbia in front of the whole world, Veselinović concluded.

"This year, the Sports and Youth Fair is especially important to us because Novi Sad holds the prestigious title of the European City of Sport for 2026. The Novi Sad Fair has always been an unconditional support to our athletes - a small temple of sports in Novi Sad. I would like to remind you that the Athletic Club of Vojvodina here, in our Athletic Hall - Hall 1, constantly trains in the winter, there are also a large number of tennis players here, Ivana Španović and others have found their place here. A large number of sports activities are held at the Novi Sad Fair - last year we had the European Veterans Championship in table tennis, and this year the World Cup in Para Shooting was organized here, said Slobodan Cvetković, General Manager of the Novi Sad Fair. - We have never been just a fair in the basic sense of our activity and we are very proud of that. We are also proud of the fact that the first major autumn event we are organizing – LORIST has been extremely noticed. This year, we had a 40% increase in attendance at LORIST, although sports and tourism were separated from it. Our exhibitors did a great job, we made quality content and we animated the audience well, which reacted well... During these two weeks, we have 11 events in the pipeline - such a rich autumn has almost never been recorded. Until October 18, in addition to the Sports and Youth Fair, we are expecting, in addition to the Sports and Youth Fair, the Robotics Fair, the Industrial Automation Fair, the Electronics, Electrical Engineering, Telecommunications Fair, the Metal Processing and Mechanical Engineering Fair, the Energy and Investment Days, the Transport Fair and the Retirement Fair, Cvetković announced.

The Sports Fair at the Novi Sad Fair has a decades-long tradition and its own interesting life. It was held for the first time in the second half of the sixties as an integral part of the Hunting and Fishing Fair, to which the Tourism Fair is attached. LORIST has been held in this way for decades. Since 2017, the Sports Fair has been organized under the auspices of the City of Novi Sad, and in 2021 it became an independent event. Since 2022, it has also been sponsored by the Provincial Secretariat for Sports and Youth. The support was provided by the City Administration for Sports and Youth, the City Sports Association, the School Sports Association of the City of Novi Sad.
The fair is growing year after year, and from the Sports Fair in 2023 to the Sports and Youth Fair, when the Novi Sad Youth Forum Association joined the organization.

The Sports and Youth Fair will be officially opened tomorrow, Friday, October 9. The ceremony begins at 12 noon.

Novi Sad Fair