Easter Festival as an effective form of increasing university students' interest in Russian cultural traditions

This article addresses the issue of declining interest among university students in traditional holidays as part of Russian culture, and the inadequacy of extracurricular activities in educational organizations aimed at popularizing traditional holidays. The purpose of the article is to substantiate the expediency of using a form of extracurricular activity such as a festival in the activities of higher education organizations, which promotes students' interest in Russian culture, including traditional holidays. The scholarly novelty of the research lies in the development of the author's methodology for organizing a festival dedicated to traditional holidays, as well as identifying the pedagogical conditions for its application. The methodology proposed by the author is based on the experience of holding the Moscow Interuniversity Student Easter Festival at the Russian Orthodox University of St. John the Theologian, which became the first mass student extracurricular event in Moscow, taking into account Orthodox themes and held in the format of an open city holiday. As a result of the research, a description of the author's methodology for holding the festival is provided; the pedagogical conditions for its application are determined; and it is also confirmed that this form of extracurricular work is effective and contributes to increasing the interest of the younger generation in Russian cultural traditions.