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World Festival of Youth and Students

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The 10th World Festival of Youth and Students in 1972

The World Festival of Youth and Students is an international event, organized by the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY), a United Nations-recognized international youth non-governmental organization, jointly with the International Union of Students since 1947.

The festival has been held regularly since 1947 as an event of global youth solidarity for democracy and against war and imperialism. The largest festival was the 6th, held in 1957 in Moscow, when 34,000 young people from 131 countries attended the event. This festival also marked the international debut of the song "Moscow Nights", which subsequently went on to become perhaps the most widely recognized Russian song in the world. Until the 19th festival in Sochi, Russia in 2017 (with 185 countries participating),[1] the largest festival by number of countries with participants was the 13th, held in 1989 in Pyongyang when 177 countries attended the event.[2]

The World Federation of Democratic Youth was founded to bring together young people of both the socialist and capitalist countries to promote peaceful cooperation and mutual rejection of war. However, with the onset of the Cold War soon after, the organization and the festivals became a matter of contention within the rivalry. Because of the enormous expenditure and coordination required to support a youth festival, most of the early festivals were held in cities in the socialist countries of Europe. However, many festivals, both then and more so since, have been held in non-socialist countries, affirming the commitment to peaceful coexistence between the peoples living under the different systems.

The most recent festival took place in Sochi, Russia, from 13 to 22 October 2017.

Chronology

Edition Year Logo Country Host City Participants Number of Represented Countries Motto
1st 1947  Czechoslovakia Prague 17,000 71 "Youth Unite, Forward for Lasting Peace!"
2nd 1949  Hungary Budapest 20,000 82 "Youth Unite, Forward for Lasting Peace, Democracy, National Independence and a better future for the people"
3rd 1951  East Germany East Berlin 26,000 104 "For Peace and Friendship – Against Nuclear Weapons"
4th 1953  Romania Bucharest 30,000 111 "No! Our generation will not serve death and destruction!."
5th 1955  Poland Warsaw 30,000 114 "For Peace and Friendship – Against the Aggressive Imperialist Pacts"
6th 1957  Soviet Union Moscow 34,000 131 "For Peace and Friendship"
7th 1959  Austria Vienna 18,000 112 "For Peace and Friendship and Peaceful Coexistence"
8th 1962  Finland Helsinki 18,000 137 "For Peace and Friendship"
9th 1968  Bulgaria Sofia 20,000 138 "For Solidarity, Peace and Friendship"
10th 1973  East Germany East Berlin 25,600 140 "For Anti-Imperialist Solidarity, Peace and Friendship"
11th 1978  Cuba Havana 18,500 145 "For Anti-Imperialist Solidarity, Peace and Friendship"
12th 1985 File:Fmje-12.jpg  Soviet Union Moscow 26,000 157 "For Anti-Imperialist Solidarity, Peace and Friendship"
13th 1989  North Korea Pyongyang 22,000 177 "For Anti-Imperialist Solidarity, Peace and Friendship"
14th 1997  Cuba Havana 12,325 136 "For Anti-Imperialist Solidarity, Peace and Friendship"
15th 2001  Algeria Algiers 6,500 110 "Let’s Globalize the Struggle For Peace, Solidarity, Development, Against Imperialism"
16th 2005  Venezuela Caracas 17,000 144 "For Peace and Solidarity, We Struggle Against Imperialism and War"
17th 2010  South Africa Pretoria 15,000 126 "Let's Defeat Imperialism, for a World of Peace, Solidarity and Social Transformation!"
18th 2013  Ecuador Quito 8,500 80[3] "Youth Unite Against Imperialism, for a World of Peace, Solidarity and Social Transformation!"
19th 2017  Russia Sochi 30,000 185[4] "For peace, solidarity and social justice, we struggle against imperialism. Honoring our past, we build the future!"

References

  1. ^ "#WFYS2017". russia2017.com.
  2. ^ "North Korea's Would-Be Olympics: A Tale of a Cold War Boondoggle". nytimes.com.
  3. ^ "El festival busca que los jóvenes tengan presencia". telegrafo.com.ec.
  4. ^ "#WFYS2017". russia2017.com.
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