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6th World Festival
of Youth and Students

Host	Moscow, Soviet Union
Year	1957
Participants	34,000
Countries	130

USSR commemorative stamp for the next World Festival hosted by Moscow - the 12th festival, in 1985

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 bold political changes initiated by Nikita Khrushchev. It was the first World Festival of Youth and Students held in the Soviet Russia, which was opening its doors for the first time to the world.^[1]

The Khrushchev reforms, known as Khrushchev's Thaw, resulted in some changes in Soviet Russia. Foreigners could come for a visit, and Russians were allowed to meet foreigners, albeit only in groups under supervision. However, that did not stop people from making friends. Russian foreign language students volunteered as interpreters.

Music from many world cultures came to Russia with the festival. Russians were dancing on the streets holding hands with foreigners from all over the world. Jazz musician Aleksey Kozlov had a chance to play with foreign musicians. The popular ensemble Druzhba from Leningrad became the winner of the First Prize^[2] in popular music, thanks to its lead singer, Edita Piekha^[1], the star of the 50s who could sing in many languages. Edita Piekha, Vladimir Troshin and international guests of the festival together performed the popular song Moscow Nights.

References

• Moscow marks 50 years since youth festival: [1]
• PJECHA Edita : "Names of those persons of a Polish nationality here have come". Archived from the original on 2009-10-22. http://www.webcitation.org/5kjLATXyC.