6th World Festival of Youth and Students

The 6th World Festival of Youth and Students (Russian: Всемирный фестиваль молодёжи и студентов) was opened on 28 July 1957, in Moscow, Soviet Union. The festival attracted 34,000 people from 130 countries. This became possible after the political changes initiated by Nikita Khrushchev. It was the first World Festival of Youth and Students held in the Soviet Union.[1]

6th World Festival of Youth and Students
Host country Soviet Union
( Russian SFSR)
Date1957 (1957)
CitiesMoscow
Participants34,000, from 130 countries

The Khrushchev reforms, known as Khrushchev Thaw, resulted in some changes in the Soviet Union. Foreigners could come for a visit, and people were allowed to meet foreigners, albeit only in groups under supervision. Soviet foreign language students acted as interpreters.

A minor international incident was provoked around the attendance of left-wing Iraqi writer Ga'ib Tu'ma Farman at the festival. The Iraqi government revoked Farman's citizenship while he was abroad, effectively stranding him in Moscow as a stateless person. This situation was resolved by the intervention of the Chinese delegation who agreed to officially invite Farman to Beijing. He went on to work for Foreign Languages Press.[2]

Jazz musician Aleksei Kozlov had a chance to play with foreign musicians. The popular ensemble Druzhba from Leningrad became the winner of the First Prize[3] in popular music, thanks to its lead singer, Edita Piekha,[1] the star of the 1950s who could sing in many languages. Edita Piekha, Vladimir Troshin and international guests of the festival together performed the popular song Moscow Nights.

The festival's sports program featured an athletics competition.[4]

References
  1. Moscow marks 50 years since youth festival Archived 2007-12-15 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Alsudairi, Mohammed Turki (20 November 2020). "Arab encounters with Maoist China". Third World Quarterly. doi:10.1080/01436597.2020.1837616. ISSN 1360-2241.
  3. "Pjecha Edita". Archived from the original on 2009-10-23.
  4. World Student Games (UIE). GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2014-12-09.


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