Luna Park, 3×3 Basketball, and Award to Outstanding Students

More than 2,500 guests gathered at the summer festival GSB FEST’26, one of the most anticipated student events of this academic year, hosted by the HSE Graduate School of Business. The celebration brought together students, graduates, applicants, and teachers from GSB and other HSE University faculties, schools, and institutes, as well as from other Moscow universities.

The annual street festival, arranged by the GSB Student Affairs Unit and the student team, offered guests an amusement park atmosphere. Strolling among brightly decorated tents and installations, arcade machines, and activity stations, participants could spend the day rekindling their inner child. Interactive routes and quests, themed activities, and performances enabled guests of all ages to come together and enjoy the day in a family-like atmosphere.

The campus space was filled with engaging activities. As part of partner companies’ brand zone programmes, participants could try their hand at arcade machines, traditional themed attractions, and masterclasses. Upon completing each activity, guests received tickets to be exchanged for valuable prizes. Creative enthusiasts enjoyed a variety of activities available to everyone: workshops in drawing, yoga, modern dance, business games, and a music quiz for teams. Throughout the day, guests could relax in a cozy lounge area of the GSB Student Affairs Unit while enjoying tasty themed snacks and drinks provided by the event partners at food courts.

The sports programme was even brighter and more diverse than expected: several sports tournaments and outdoor activities were held within the training grounds. The programme included the annual HSE Capitals Cup in 3x3 Basketball from the HSE Basketball Community, the opening of the running season with a race and relay races from the GSB Running Club, dance and cyber competitions, as well as other activities from HSE student sports clubs and teams.

The festival culminated with a rich stage programme, which had been created and designed on a grand scale and with special enthusiasm, thanks to the joint efforts with partner company Avito. The annual dance battles from the HSE DANCE student organisation opened the stage, with over 200 people taking part in individual and team performances. Another highlight was the award ceremony of Shabolovskaya Zvezda 2026—an award given to outstanding students for their contribution to the development of extracurricular activities at HSE GSB. The students themselves chose more than 100 winners in professional, sports, volunteer, and leisure categories.

The stage was also in use throughout the festival: vocalists, musicians, and dancers—HSE students—performed over 20 musical acts, and the programme finished with a groovy dance party from student DJs (auditions and rehearsals had been held for two months in advance).

GSB FEST’26 has once again confirmed its status as a key summer event in HSE GSB’s extracurricular life. The organisers express their sincere gratitude to all partners, student organisations, volunteers, and guests.

Alexander Gabrielov

Deputy Director of the HSE GSB

‘Our annual festival has become a beloved tradition thanks to the efforts of the HSE Graduate School of Business staff and the student organiser team. This year’s event demonstrated a new scale and level of organisation: a diverse programme and interactive stands from partner companies and student organisations. The beautiful decorations and campus design created a vibrant, family-like atmosphere for our students, staff, and guests.’

Regina Gareeva

Director of the HSE GSB Career Centre

‘GSB FEST brought together students, staff, teachers, and guests from other faculties. It remains the students’ favourite event at the HSE Graduate School of Business. Student Affairs and the student team managed to reach new heights and to vividly conclude the academic year, covering all areas of extracurricular activities. The concert programme and festival stage featured a new look, discovering even more talents among our creative students. This year, the entertainment, leisure, and sports activities recreated an amusement park, and it was wonderful to find ourselves in such a great atmosphere again. The event provides a valuable opportunity to showcase everything available to GSB students while bringing together so many interesting guests!’

Elizaveta Koltukova

Events & Marketing Team Lead, Graduate Recruitment & Education at Avito

‘GSB FEST is about people, emotions, and the atmosphere of a large community. It is a pleasure to see how the festival brings together students, graduates, employees, and partners every year. This year, the Luna Park theme created a truly special mood: bright, light, and carefree. We gladly prepared several Avito zones, game activities, and treats. It was great to see the students’ lively interest and their smiles! We would like to thank the HSE Graduate School of Business team for their professional level of organisation and warm atmosphere. At Avito, we take pride in participating in such events and initiatives that make student life even brighter.’

Alexey Belov

Head of Academic Initiatives and Partnerships at Alfa-Bank

‘Alfa-Bank has been a partner of the HSE Graduate School of Business for several years, and for us this is much more than providing support for educational programmes. We are consistently creating an ecosystem where students gain opportunities for development and career starts, while we accompany them in their extracurricular life as well. GSB FEST highlights this quite vividly: we not only study together but also relax, hang out, find inspiration, and encourage each other. That is why we are happy to support the festival every year and try to make it brighter and even more useful for students. We find it really important to be a part of this lively and genuine student experience.’

Victor Popov

Third-year student of Business Informatics Programme, organiser of the HSE 3x3 Capitals Cup tournament

‘GSB FEST’26 is the best way to celebrate summer. I have never seen such an abundance of activities and ways to spend time at any other event. At the festival, we were able to host the largest streetball tournament in the history of HSE University basketball. Many thanks to the GSB Student Affairs Unit, which has been helping to hold the Capitals Cup as part of the festival for years!’

Elizaveta Egorova

Second-year student of Business Management Programme, festival organiser

‘This year I was a festival coordinator, and I am thrilled that we were able to arrange such a large-scale event at the GSB. It is a tremendous experience, from interacting with contractors to creating a mood for thousands of guests. I find great value in the fact that the HSE Graduate School of Business not only allows but actively supports student initiatives, providing space for ambitious projects. I am very grateful for the opportunity to prove myself!’

Corporate partners of the HSE Graduate School of Business played a key role in creating the festival atmosphere by preparing original interactive locations reminiscent of an amusement park. Avito, Alfa-Bank, VTB, Gazprombank, EkoNiva Group, UniRus, RSHB, P&G, CROC, JTI, Svyatoy Istochnik, Eurofoods, Axenix, and T2 were all valued partners of GSB FEST’26.

HSE student organisations and participants in the HSE student group project competition also helped with preparing the activities. They presented their clubs in a dedicated area: StudTeamGSB, GSB Sports Club, GSB Mentoring, GSB Ambassadors, GSB Student Council, HSE Business Club, GSB Volunteer Community, Business Games at GSB, HSE Literary and Acoustic Evenings, HSE Film Club, Ya V Dele, Extra.HSE, and IngrupSTS.

More photos from GSB FEST’26 can be found in the Extra.HSE album (in Russian); photos from the photo zone are available via the link (in Russian).

June 11