The article aims to provide an overall overview of sports festivals and to analyze the impact of a sports festival held in Iași over two consecutive editions on its participants. The study is based on data collected through a questionnaire administered to participants, which addressed their satisfaction level, intention to participate in future editions, willingness to recommend the event, preferred sports, and suggestions for improving the organization. We have administered questionnaires to 1,200 participants to the Iași International Youth Sports Festival in the period of the two editions (2024 and 2025). The results were comparatively analyzed across age and gender groups. The collected data reveal high levels of satisfaction, a general desire to participate again, and a significant interest in diversifying sports disciplines, as well as statistically significant gender differences. The conclusions highlight how important multi-sport events are in promoting youth participation in physical activity and potential directions for future editions.
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Physical activity among young people represents a central element of individual and collective health (Andersen et al., 2017; Hoedjes et al., 2018; Bermejo-Cantarero et al., 2023). The World Health Organization (WHO, 2020b) underlines that the regular practice of physical exercise improves cardiovascular health, the development of the bone and muscle systems, cognitive functioning, and psychological well-being. According to current recommendations, children and adolescents (5–17 years old) should include at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity in their daily schedules, as well as muscle-strengthening exercises, at least three times a week (Leuciuc, 2020; Hangu et al., 2025). Regarding adults, the optimal duration ranges from 150 to 300 minutes of moderate activity per week (West et al., 2025). Nevertheless, global statistics indicate that around 80% of adolescents fail to reach these levels, and a similar trend has been pointed out in Romania (Roșioară et al., 2024). The priorities of the National Health Strategy for 2022–2030 emphasize promoting physical activity through school and extracurricular projects, as well as organizing festivals and events with an impact on the community (Lotrean et al., 2025; Bălănescu, 2022).
The European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) is the most important European multi-sport event intended for young people (aged 14–18), organized every two years. At the edition held in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia (2022), over 2,000 athletes from 48 countries attended, with competitions taking place in events such as athletics, gymnastics, basketball, judo, swimming, cycling, handball, and tennis. The event featured both official competitions and educational activities centered on fair-play and Olympic values. The outcomes showed a high level of sports performance and the social and cultural integration of the participants (European Olympic Committees, 2022; European Youth Olympic Festival, 2022; European Olympic Committees).
At the edition organized in Normandy, France (2022), the Gymnasiade –ISF World School Sport Games, organized by the International School Sport Federation (ISF), brought together over 3,500 students from 65 countries, in 20 sports events, including athletics, wrestling, fencing, basketball, volleyball, dance sport, artistic gymnastics, and emerging sports. Besides the competitions, the event included leadership workshops, sessions on gender equality, and environmental protection. According to the ISF report, the Gymnasiade reported a positive impact on social inclusion, with girls accounting for 47% of the participants, thus underscoring the progress made toward equal opportunities (ISF, 2022 –Gymnasiade 2022, International School Sport Federation).The Youth Sports Festival in Budapest is an annual festival that attracts thousands of young people from over 30 countries. At the 2023 edition, around 7,000 athletes enrolled to compete in sports events such as football, handball, basketball, and volleyball. The entire festival emphasized cultural exchanges through themed evenings, sports parades, and educational visits. According to the evaluations made by the organizers, 82% of the participants expressed a desire to return, and 76% recommended the festival to their colleagues (Youth Sports Festival, 2023, Budapest).With over 1,200 participants at its most recent two editions, the Iași International Youth Sports Festival is an event that stands out through its innovative character, with a medley of urban sports (football, streetball, rugby-tag, calisthenics, pétanque)and recreational activities in a setting accessible to children, adolescents, and young people.The annual London Youth Games (LYG) –considered the largest youth sports festival in Europe –hosts over 100,000 participants from various London schools. The2023 edition of the competitions included athletics, rowing, cricket, netball, rugby, swimming, and urban sports such as BMX or skateboarding. Evaluations revealed that the event contributes to mitigating social inequalities, as 65% of participants came from disadvantaged backgrounds (London Youth Games Foundation Report, 2023).The purpose of our study is to analyze the satisfaction level of the participants to the Iași International Youth Sports Festival and the effect of the festival’s progress on promoting a healthy lifestyle among children, adolescents, and youth.
In the period July-September 2024 and 2025, the city of Iași (Romania) hosted the International Youth Sports Festival, which aimed to offer children, adolescents, and young people a sporting alternative for leisure, socialization, and education, focusing on the Olympic values of sports (respect, fair play, tolerance, and team spirit).
Hypothesis 1: The study is based on the hypothesis that organizing a festival-like sports event helps to promote physical activity among children, adolescents, and young adults.Hypothesis 2: There are gender and age differences regarding the level of satisfaction after attending the festival.We assessed the impact of the Iași International Youth Sports Festival using a questionnaire applied to three categories of participants: pupils from primary and secondary schools (children), high school students (adolescents), and young adults over 18 years old. The total number of participants was 1,200, of which 480 children (40%), 420 adolescents (35%), and 300 young adults over 18 years old (20%).The questionnaire included questions regarding the level of overall satisfaction, intention to return, willingness to recommend the event, preferred sports, proposed future sports, aspects requiring improvement, and evaluation of organizational logistics. The data were centralized and interpreted statistically (means, percentages, Net Promoter Scores –NPS), using the SPSS program, and were presented comparatively across the three age or gender groups