ALMATY (TCA) — The U.S. Diplomatic Mission to Kazakhstan announces the second annual Go Viral Festival — a three-day festival aimed at spreading innovative ideas in media, business, culture, and technology, which will be held from June 15-17 at SmArt.Point co-working space in Almaty.
The mission of the festival is to empower journalists, entrepreneurs, filmmakers, and musicians to use digital media and technology to connect with the world. The Go Viral festival will feature music, films, talks, discussions and master classes from leading trendsetters from the United States, Central Asia and Eastern Europe, who will share their secrets to reaching global audiences.
This year the festival expects more than 1500 participants. As of May 31, 1391 participants have been registered from 14 countries (Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, USA, Germany, France, South Korea, and Senegal). According to the registration statistics, 38% are interested in the business section, 31% in media, 18% in technology and 13% in culture.
The theme of this year’s Go Viral is “Interlaced: Threads of Innovation, Interaction, and Inspiration that Link Us Together.” Within this theme, the festival will explore topics including regional connections, collaboration and co-creation, trust and digital media, the sharing economy, and the ways technology can help people understand each other better beyond geographic and cultural divides.
The festival will feature a robust schedule of interactive presentations, workshops, and networking sessions as well as musical performances and film screenings. A TechLab will host demonstrations of technological innovations by local and international exhibitors. Attendees will not only be inspired by new ideas and engaging performances, but will have opportunities to meet each other, collaborate, and launch joint projects.
“The United States built its economy on making innovations and applying the best ideas, no matter where they originated. This principle can work well in Kazakhstan and Central Asia. We believe that Go Viral festival will help innovators and creative people to share their ideas and make them real,” stated U.S. Consul General in Almaty Mark Moody.
More information about the project and the schedule is on the festival’s web site www.goviral.kz.
