The 6th

World Festival of Youth and Students The World Festival of Youth and Students is an international event organized by the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY) and the International Union of Students after 1947. History The festival has been held regularly since 1947 as an ev ...

was held from 28 July to 5 August 1957 in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, capital city of the then

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. The festival attracted 34,000 people from 130 countries. This became possible after the political changes initiated by

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...

. It was the first

held in the Soviet Union.Moscow marks 50 years since youth festival
The Khrushchev reforms, known as

Khrushchev Thaw The Khrushchev Thaw ( rus, хрущёвская о́ттепель, r=khrushchovskaya ottepel, p=xrʊˈɕːɵfskəjə ˈotʲ:ɪpʲɪlʲ or simply ''ottepel'')William Taubman, Khrushchev: The Man and His Era, London: Free Press, 2004 is the period ...

, 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''. Jazz musician Aleksei Kozlov had a chance to play with foreign musicians. The popular ensemble Druzhba from

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

became the winner of the First Prize in popular music, thanks to its lead singer,

Edita Piekha Edita Piekha (russian: Эди́та Станисла́вовна Пье́ха, ''Edita Stanislavovna Pyekha'', pl, Edyta Piecha, french: Édith-Marie Piecha) is a Soviet and Russian singer and actress of Polish descent. She was the third popular ...

, the star of the 1950s who could sing in many languages.

Vladimir Troshin Vladimir Konstantinovich Troshin (russian: Влади́мир Константи́нович Тр́ошин; 15 May 1926 – 25 February 2008) was a Soviet and Russian film and theater actor and singer. In 1951, at the age of 25, for his portrayal ...

and international guests of the festival together performed the popular song '' Moscow Nights''. Reverend Warren McKenna,

Joanne Grant Joanne Grant (March 30, 1930 – January 9, 2005) was an African-American journalist and Communist activist. She was a reporter for the ''National Guardian'', where she covered the American Civil Rights Movement in the American South in the 1960s. ...

Sally Belfrage Sally Belfrage (October 4, 1936 – March 14, 1994) was a United States-born British-based 20th century non-fiction writer and international journalist. Her writing covered turmoils in Northern Ireland, the American Civil Rights Movement and ...

, folk singer

Peggy Seeger Margaret "Peggy" Seeger (born June 17, 1935) is an American folk singer. She has lived in Britain for more than 60 years, and was married to the singer and songwriter Ewan MacColl until his death in 1989. First American period Seeger's father ...

attended the festival as part of the US delegation and later went on a propaganda trip to Communist China. The festival's sports program featured an athletics competition.World Student Games (UIE)
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2014-12-09. After the festival there was a significant influx of

Afro-Russians Afro-Russians (russian: Афророссияне, Afrorossiyane) are people of African descent that have migrated to and settled in Russia. The Metis Foundation estimates that there were about 30,000 Afro-Russians in 2013. Terminology Represen ...

. The mixed race African descended children were called festival children because of their appearance, timing of their birth, and lack of a father figure.

References

World Festival of Youth and Students 1957 in Moscow 1957 festivals Festivals in the Soviet Union 1957 in multi-sport events Multi-sport events in the Soviet Union Sports festivals in Russia {{festival-stub