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), a left-wing youth organization, jointly with the International Union of Students since 1947.
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. In terms of the number of the attending countries, the largest festival was the 13th, held in 1989 in Pyongyang, North Korea, when 177 countries attended the event.
During the Cold War many festivals were held in capitals of Socialist countries because of the enormous expenditure and coordination required to support a youth festival. As a result, by the 1960s the festivals were accused by the US State Department of being a tool of Communist propaganda.[1]
The 17th festival was held in Pretoria, South Africa, on December 13–21, 2010, and the 18th festival was held in Quito, Ecuador, on December 7-13, 2013.
Gallery
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LimMeetsKim.jpeg
South Korean activist Lim Su-kyung meets Kim Il-sung at the 13th festival in Pyongyang
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The South African president Jacob Zuma at the 17th festival in Tshwane.
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The ending march through Tshwane at the 17th festival. In the picture there are Swedes and behind them a banner with the text Solidarity with Western Sahara.
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Zimbabweans dancing at the ending march of the 17th festival.
Chronology
Edition | Year | Host | Participants | Countries | Motto |
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1st | 1947 | Prague, Czechoslovakia | 17,000 | 71 | "Youth Unite, Forward for Lasting Peace!" |
2nd | 1949 | Budapest, Hungary | 20,000 | 82 | "Youth Unite, Forward for Lasting Peace, Democracy, National Independence and a better future for the people" |
3rd | 1951 | East Berlin, East Germany | 26,000 | 104 | "For Peace and Friendship – Against Nuclear Weapons" |
4th | 1953 | Bucharest, Romania | 30,000 | 111 | "No! Our generation will not serve death and destruction!." |
5th | 1955 | Warsaw, Poland | 30,000 | 114 | "For Peace and Friendship – Against the Aggressive Imperialist Pacts" |
6th | 1957 | Moscow, Soviet Union | 34,000 | 131 | "For Peace and Friendship" |
7th | 1959 | Vienna, Austria | 18,000 | 112 | "For Peace and Friendship and Peaceful Coexistence" |
8th | 1962 | Helsinki, Finland | 18,000 | 137 | "For Peace and Friendship" |
9th | 1968 | Sofia, Bulgaria | 20,000 | 138 | "For Solidarity, Peace and Friendship" |
10th | 1973 | East Berlin, East Germany | 25,600 | 140 | "For Anti-Imperialist Solidarity, Peace and Friendship" |
11th | 1978 | Havana, Cuba | 18,500 | 145 | "For Anti-Imperialist Solidarity, Peace and Friendship" |
12th | 1985 | Moscow, Soviet Union | 26,000 | 157 | "For Anti-Imperialist Solidarity, Peace and Friendship" |
13th | 1989 | Pyongyang, North Korea | 22,000 | 177 | "For Anti-Imperialist Solidarity, Peace and Friendship" |
14th | 1997 | Havana, Cuba | 12,325 | 136 | "For Anti-Imperialist Solidarity, Peace and Friendship" |
15th | 2001 | Algiers, Algeria | 6,500 | 110 | "Let’s Globalize the Struggle For Peace, Solidarity, Development, Against Imperialism" |
16th | 2005 | Caracas, Venezuela | 17,000 | 144 | "For Peace and Solidarity, We Struggle Against Imperialism and War" |
17th | 2010 | Pretoria, South Africa | 15,000 | 126 | "Let's Defeat Imperialism, for a World of Peace, Solidarity and Social Transformation!" |
18th | 2013 | Quito, Ecuador | 8,500 | 80[2] | "Youth Unite Against Imperialism, for a World of Peace, Solidarity and Social Transformation!" |
References
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to World Festival of Youth and Students. |
- Official Website of the 17th World Festival of Youth and Students
- Official Website of the World Federation of Democratic Youth
- Chronology of World Festivals of Youth and Students
- 16th World Festival of Youth and Students, Official Website
- Video of the 16th World Festival of Youth and Students in Caracas
- North Korea Youth Festival 1989
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