Oriented on making people closer

Go Viral Festival 2023 — this is the name of a large-scale event held in the Turkmen capital over the past two days. The festival, covering the spheres of culture, media, business and technology, is a unique networking platform and takes place annually in all countries of Central Asia. This season was launched in Tashkent, and, having "travelled" to such cities as Osh, Dushanbe and Astana, ended up in Ashgabat on Saturday.

The opening of the second festival of creativity and ideas in Turkmenistan was held at the Archabil Hotel on Friday. Yelena Gareyeva, Honorary Ambassador of the project in Turkmenistan, Zhanaidar Duzgenbay, Go Viral coordinatior, and Helen S. Shaw, press attache of the US Embassy in Turkmenistan, made introductory remarks.

— Go Viral is a project of the US Department of State supported by the diplomatic missions of the US in Central Asia. Ashgabat is completing a series of festivals that have already been held in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan. The symbol of this year is art, and in this regard, the festival presents an exhibition of works in the national style, showing the skills of Turkmen artificers. Also, in all the halls there are boards with the installation of intertwined hands, and they are there for a reason. Such installations have been at each festival this year. Now you have the opportunity to leave your trace in the history of the project – draw and write wishes, after our festival, similar installations from each Central Asian country will be assembled into a single massive canvas symbolizing interaction and collaboration. However, Go Viral does not consist only of the interactive presentations and exciting discussions, first of all, it is a large-scale networking platform, so do not hesitate to communicate, get acquainted and exchange contacts," the ambassador noted.

The speaker of the first session was the American writer Greg Bafford with a presentation on the abilities of artificial intelligence and its usage in problem solving.

Then, until the end of the second day, panel sessions were held simultaneously in three halls – Connection, Invention, and Inspiration hall. Experts from the fields of business, SMM, technology, journalism, cinematography shared their experiences, discussed interesting cases, gave advice and answered questions from listeners who showed a deep interest.

— Go Viral may have its own meaning for everyone, but we believe that the best description is expressed in this year's motto – "Inspire and Collaborate". Despite the fact that the project has been operating in Turkmenistan for only two years, the format has already become heart-warming for lots of people. The festival was attended by several hundred visitors, and we hope that each of them enjoyed the event," the project volunteers say.

When the sessions ended, all the guests gathered at the closing ceremony in the Connection Hall. U.S. Ambassador to Turkmenistan Matthew Stephen Klimow delivered a speech:

— Looking at such a large audience now, I feel inspired. Inspired by the smiles and enthusiasm I see on your faces, inspired by the fruitful work that has been going on these two days. I think that by properly combining the sessions, workshops and discussions, we actually managed to "expand" the time of your interaction - you communicated, shared opinions, and established new connections. And this is really inspiring!

After addressing guests, the ambassador presented gifts to the winners of the contest held by the project in social networks, and then invited all visitors to the photo zone.

However, this was not all. A live concert by Luvera was one more surprise for the festival guests.

After two days of discussions, communication, and "inspiring collaboration", the guests started going home, and each of them took a positive mood that would last until the next Go Viral Festival.

Saparguly MAHTUMOV

Photo: provided by Go Viral