Festival of Youth and Students in 1957. VI World Festival of Youth and Students

The post is dedicated to the photo exhibition “Moscow-1957”, which took place in January-March last year. Photos of Leonard Gianadda, one of the foreign students who visited the capital as part of the 1957 youth rally, were exhibited there. It was the visit of this photo exhibition by friends, and then himself, gave me the idea to get 2 films from this event, shot by my grandfather, from the family photo archives. (By the way, this is the only film from my grandfather’s archive shot in a reportage style). At the time of these events he was 30 years old.

Interestingly, at work, in order to avoid “no matter what happens,” he was ordered to send his son (my father, who was not even a year old at the time) to his relatives during the festival in Moscow. Moreover, a month and a half before the actual event. This was done, the son was sent to his parents in Bogorodsk, but he himself attended the festival. :-)

Amateur photos, unfortunately, cannot be compared in quality with the Swiss ones presented at that exhibition. But they were not planned for publication in newspapers, as in the case of the Swiss. And half a century ago, blogs for the public publication of personal impressions did not yet exist. Therefore, the photos were planned to become exactly what they became - family archive.

Unfortunately, the film was either poorly preserved (in appearance, however, everything is fine), or it was initially underexposed, or maybe I don’t have enough knowledge for high-quality digitization of this particular film - the quality of the photo did not turn out too high. But nevertheless, a peek into the big event in Soviet life half a century ago, we will succeed.

From the history of the festival (information from Wikipedia): By symbol youth forum, which was attended by delegates from left-wing youth organizations around the world, was the Dove of Peace, invented by Pablo Picasso. For the festival, the Druzhba park, the Tourist hotel complex, the Ukraine hotel, and the Luzhniki stadium were opened in Moscow. Hungarian Ikarus buses appeared in the capital for the first time; the first GAZ-21 Volga cars and the first Rafik, the RAF-10 Festival minibus, were produced for the event. The festival became in every sense a significant and explosive event for boys and girls - and the most widespread in its history. It took place in the middle of Khrushchev's thaw and was remembered for its openness. Foreigners who arrived communicated freely with Muscovites; this was not persecuted. The Moscow Kremlin and Gorky Park were open to the public. Over the two weeks of the festival, over eight hundred events were held.

In the photo is one of propaganda posters, installed for that event in the center of Moscow. However, I cannot identify the installation location.

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Kyiv railway station welcomes foreign delegates.
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Pandemonium on the huge Manezhnaya Square, which was then simply paved with asphalt. By the way, my grandfather fully approves of Luzhkov’s decision to locate underground shopping arcades and an above-ground park for walking in this square. According to him, this square has always been a headache for the Kremlin security - if something happened, it could easily become a place quick collection a rally of thousands of people with an uncontrollable crowd, which in turn could force its way into the Kremlin. And now this potentially dangerous area is gone! This is such an unexpected look. UPDATE: Recent events on Manezhnaya Square, however, have shown that, nevertheless, if the crowd wants to gather, they will gather on this version of the square.

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A concert is taking place on the stage in front of the Manege. The arena is also decorated with huge posters (sorry it’s hard to see in the photo). On the left on the facade there is a bomb flying into a burning house, on the right there is a snake entwining Earth with an inscription on it something about the atom, and in the center of the facade, right above the stage, is a large dove of peace.
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Each of the letters in the word "Festival" consists of many frames Soviet films those years.
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You'd think there was a film festival going on. A globe wrapped in film in the same (apparently) unidentified park.
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There is also a street installation of photographic portraits of film actors and singers who were popular at that time. Moreover, not only Soviet ones were present, but also French and Indian ones (my grandfather told me their last names, but I didn’t remember).
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The young man on the left looks a lot like Antonio Banderas (only he was not born yet at that moment :-))
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The girl in the center seemed to me similar to Svetlana Svetlichnaya, but she was only 17 years old at that time, and she appeared in films for the first time only in 1960... so it’s unlikely to be her.
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Actor Alexei Batalov (who has not yet starred in the cult Soviet film “Moscow Doesn’t Believe in Tears”) has a very exotic neighborhood here. :-) As they later suggested to me, this is Nargis, the legend of Indian cinema.
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And here, with Ellina Bystritskaya, if I’m not mistaken, he showed up Indian actor. Again, information from a tip from people in the know: "Raj Kapoor is not just an actor, he is the era of Indian cinema."
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Next come artists completely unknown to me. :-)
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Let's move on from the festival surroundings to the action itself. Let's see what was happening on the streets of Moscow on those warm July days...
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And now there were so many people that it was impossible to squeeze through.
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And then there was a parade Garden Ring.
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The number of people literally hanging from all available windows and doors, balconies and roofs of the surrounding houses is impressive. Everyone was interested in looking at each other...
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...exchange souvenirs.
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So we got to the Foreign Ministry building. There was also a small stage at its entrance.
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The program of the 19th festival of youth and students in Moscow and Sochi recently ended. This means that it’s time to remind the history of the festival to those who are already familiar with it, and to fill the gaps in knowledge among those who have not heard anything about it.

How it all began?

In the fall of 1945, the World Conference of Democratic Youth was held in London, where they adopted a resolution on the creation of the World Federation of Democratic Youth.

The purpose of the organization was to promote mutual understanding among young people on various issues, as well as ensure safety and defend the rights of young people. It was also decided to celebrate World Youth Day on November 10 every year.

Almost a year later, in August 1946, the 1st World Congress of Students was held in Prague, at which the International Union of Students (ISU) was created, which declared its goals to be the struggle for peace, social progress and student rights. It was under the auspices of the WFDY and MSS that the very first festival of youth and students in the Czech Republic took place.

Promising start

17 thousand participants from 71 countries came to the festival in Prague.

The main topic was the continuation of the fight against fascism and the need to unite all countries for this. Of course, the results of the Second World War and the issue of preserving the memory of people whose lives were given in the name of victory were also discussed.

The festival’s emblem depicted two people, a dark-skinned one and a white-skinned one, their handshake against the backdrop of a globe symbolizing the unity of youth from all countries, regardless of nationality, in the fight against major world problems.

Delegates from all countries prepared stands telling about the reconstruction of cities after the war and the activities of the WFDY in their country. The Soviet stand was different from the rest. Most of it was occupied by information about Joseph Stalin, the Constitution of the USSR, the contribution Soviet Union to victory in the war and the fight against fascism.

At numerous conferences within the festival, the role of the Soviet Union in the recently won victory was emphasized, and the country was spoken of with respect and gratitude.

Chronology

World Festival youth and students was initially held every 2 years, but soon the break increased to several years.

Let us recall the chronology of its implementation:

1. Prague, Czechoslovakia - 1947
2. Hungary, Budapest - 1949
3. GDR, Berlin - 1951
4. Romania, Bucharest - 1953
5. Poland, Warsaw - 1955
6. USSR, Moscow - 1957
7. Austria, Vienna - 1959
8. Finland, Helsinki - 1962
9. Bulgaria, Sofia - 1968
10. GDR, Berlin - 1973
11. Cuba, Havana - 1978
12. USSR, Moscow - 1985
13. Korea, Pyongyang - 1989
14. Cuba, Havana - 1997
15. Algiers, Algeria - 2001
16. Venezuela, Caracas - 2005
17. South Africa, Pretoria - 2010
18. Ecuador, Quito - 2013
19. - 2017

For the first time in the USSR

The first Festival of Youth and Students in Moscow was held in 1957. It attracted 34,000 participants from 131 countries. This number of delegates remains unsurpassed to date.

The country rejoiced at the opening of the Iron Curtain; the entire Soviet Union and the capital carefully prepared for the festival:

• new hotels were built in Moscow;
• smashed;
• On Central Television, a “Festival Editorial Office” was created, which released several programs called “Evening funny questions"(prototype of modern KVN).

The slogan of the festival “For Peace and Friendship” reflected its atmosphere and mood. Many speeches were made about the need for independence of peoples and the promotion of internationalism. The symbol of the Festival of Youth and Students in Moscow in 1957 was the famous “Dove of Peace”.

The first Festival of Youth and Students in Moscow was remembered not only for its scale, but also for a number of very interesting facts:

• Moscow was covered by a real “sexual revolution”. Young girls eagerly met foreign guests and began fleeting romances with them. Entire squads were created to combat this phenomenon. They went out onto the streets of Moscow at night and caught such couples. Foreigners were not touched, but Soviet young ladies had a hard time: the vigilantes cut off part of their hair with scissors or clippers so that the girls had no choice but to cut their hair bald. 9 months after the festival, dark-skinned citizens began to appear. They were called that way - “Children of the Festival.”
• At the closing ceremony, the song “Moscow Nights” was played, performed by Edita Piekha and Marisa Liepa. Until now, many foreigners associate Russia with this composition.
• As one of the journalists who came to Moscow then noted, Soviet citizens did not want to let foreigners into their homes (he believed that the authorities had instructed them to do so), but on the streets Muscovites communicated with them very willingly.

Twelfth, or second

The twelfth overall, and the second in Moscow, the Festival of Youth and Students was held in 1985. In addition to the participants (there were 26,000 of them from 157 countries), many famous people also took part in the festival:

• Mikhail Gorbachev delivered a greeting at the opening; The “peace race” was opened by the chairman of the Olympic Committee Samaranch;
• Anatoly Karpov showed his mastery of playing chess on a thousand boards at the same time;
• German musician Udo Lindenberg performed at music venues.

Not the same anymore?

Such freedom of speech as in 1957 was no longer observed. According to the party’s recommendations, all discussions should have been limited to a certain range of issues specified in the document. They tried to avoid provocative questions or accused the speaker of incompetence. However most of Participants of the Festival did not come for political discussions, but for the sake of communicating with delegates from other countries and making new friends.

The closing ceremony of the Festival of Youth and Students in Moscow took place at the Lenin Stadium (current Luzhniki Stadium). In addition to the speeches of delegates and political figures from different countries, famous and popular artists performed before the participants, for example, Valery Leontyev presented his songs, scenes from " Swan Lake"performed by the Bolshoi Theater troupe.

Nineteenth, or third

In 2015, it became known that the 2017 festival would be hosted by Russia for the third time (although, to be precise, Russia is hosting it for the first time, because the previous two times the host country was the USSR).

On June 7, 2016, the cities where the XIX World Festival of Youth and Students will be held were named - Moscow and Sochi.

In Russia, as always, they began to prepare for the upcoming event with zeal. In October 2016, a clock was installed in front of the Moscow State University building, counting down the days until the start of the Festival. This event was marked by the passing of GTO standards, a presentation of world cuisines, and a concert with the participation of Russian stars. Similar events took place not only in Moscow, but also in many other cities.

The opening of the Festival of Youth and Students took place, starting from and walking 8 km to the Luzhniki sports complex, where a grandiose concert took place with the participation of modern stars Russian stage. The finale of the holiday was a large fireworks display that lasted 15 minutes.

The grand opening took place in Sochi, where artists and speakers of the festival also performed.

Festival program - 2017

The program of the festival of youth and students in Moscow and Sochi was very eventful. The capital was assigned the role of “framing” the event, its colorful opening and closing. The main events took place in Sochi:

• During cultural program A jazz festival was held, organized by Igor Butman, and Manizha, who became famous on Instagram, performed. The participants watched the play "Revolution Square. 17" performed by the "Moscow Theater of Poets" and enjoyed the music of the multinational symphony orchestra and even took part in a dance battle from Yegor Druzhinin.
• The sports program also included many events: passing GTO standards, master classes, a 2017 meter race, meetings with famous Russian athletes.
• No less extensive and important has become educational program festival During it, participants met with scientists, businessmen, politicians and experts in various fields of science, visited numerous exhibitions and lectures, took part in discussions and master classes.

The final day of the Festival was marked by the personal presence of Vladimir Putin. He addressed the participants with a parting speech.

The World Festival of Youth and Students in Moscow ended on October 22. The organizers prepared an impressive pyrotechnic show with music written specifically for the closing of the Festival.

The festival of youth and students in Moscow is becoming richer and brighter every year. He will probably not return to our country as soon as we would like, because there are still many states that want to accept him on their territory. In the meantime, we will carefully cherish the memory of three past we have festivals and expect new victories and discoveries from Russian youth.

The publication was prepared as part of a cultural research project under a grant from the President of the Russian Federation “The Art of Festive City Decoration. History and Modernity.”

The Thaw era manifested itself in the festive decoration of the city with a number of interesting artistic phenomena. Excessive massiveness and decoration post-war years gave way to simple, lightweight, functional solutions. Ceremonial portraits are replaced by decorative panels and thematic compositions, the images on them acquire a more conventional, generalized symbolic interpretation. Eclecticism and ponderous monumentality disappear, color and a range of pure open tones acquire great importance. By the end of the 1950s, the first examples of the solution of design complexes in spatial development appeared, in connection with the urban environment and, above all, architectural ensembles. One of best examples This approach to decorating the city was the design of Moscow in the summer of 1957, during the VI World Festival of Youth and Students.

During the festival, the entire city was turned into a giant theater and exhibition space. Picturesque panels, volumetric plastic structures, transforming light-kinetic devices decorated the streets, parks and water areas of Moscow.

A whole carnival train traveled through Moscow, consisting of 120 movable decorative installations, cargo platforms, multi-colored buses, decorated with the festival flower, national flags, colorful ribbons and fresh flowers. This grand procession was opened by a motorcycle escort of standard bearers, carrying azure silk banners with the image of white doves.

The design of the Moscow Boulevard Ring on the theme of literary works, copyright and folk tales— a lot of carefully painted structures, picturesque panels and volumetric decorative installations placed along the pedestrian part of the boulevards, carved along the contour.

During the Festival, Manezhnaya Square turned into a unique " ballroom"and at the same time to the gallery, where enlarged copies of Boris Prorokov's drawings and posters on anti-war themes were exhibited. The building of the Moscow Hotel was decorated with a gigantic decorative panel with the image of a woman in Russian costume holding bread and salt (artist Chingiz Akhmarov).

In the design of city highways important role architecture of small forms played. Decorated lanterns united the composition of the festive decorations with rhythmic repetitions and emphasized the distant perspective of the streets or the enclosed space of the squares. Bright colorful spots included numerous stalls, kiosks, and tents where festival souvenirs and carnival attributes were sold. This design was actively included in the spatial design of highways, organizing it in a new way and bringing it closer to a human scale. Garlands of greenery, arches of balloons, light ceilings highlighted festive areas, distinguished by a special richness of decor.

Tverskoy Boulevard was decorated on the theme “Tales of the Peoples of the World” (artists S. Amursky, E. Bragin, I. Derviz, I. Egorkina, I. Lavrova, V. Nikitin). Decorative installations located on the lawns of the boulevard illustrated Russian, French, Chinese fairy tales. Other characters are located on the arches spanning the alleys of the boulevard.

“Wonder Town”, created according to the design of artist Ida Egorkina on one of the sites Tverskoy Boulevard, reproduced magical castles from Chinese, Indian and European fairy tales.

“Russian literature” became the theme for the decoration of the neighboring Suvorovsky Boulevard; it was even called “Book Boulevard” during the festival. At the very beginning, at the Nikitsky Gate, a huge stele in the form of a stack of books was installed, next to it there was a panel-diptych “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” (artists A.L. Orlovsky, M.A. Velizheva, E.G. Kozakova). Book stalls and huge models of books with illustrations to works of Russian literature were installed along the boulevard. classical literature, tall columns composed of many volumes (artist G. Tkachev).

Near the university building on the high bank of the Moscow River, the composition “Festival Torch” by architect-artist Igor Pokrovsky was installed. The design of the installation was simple and clear, and the use of figurative metaphors made it possible to create an expressive image: the flame of a high torch seemed to turn into a symbol of peace - a white dove with wings outstretched in flight.

Arbat Square was decorated with an electric fountain designed by architect Nikolai Latyshev (designer T. Komissarov, artists V. Konovalov, T. Mikhailov). Light dynamic cascade from light bulbs was crowned with a decorative figure of a dove of peace, and the fountain bowl was decorated around the perimeter with flags of the countries participating in the youth festival. At that time it was an innovative solution, which, however, did not receive further development. Only in our days has the idea of ​​an electric fountain as an element of the city’s festive decoration experienced a rebirth.

Designed by architect Vadim Makarevich, the design of the Belorussky Station square was built on color contrast flagpoles rhythmically located along the perimeter of the square. Masts with multi-colored ribbons and panels converged towards the center - towards a dove holding a flower in its beak. Against the background of the dove, the figures of a young man and a girl stood out as they greeted the participants of the holiday. The picture is clickable.

The illumination of the Central Telegraph played on the symbolism of the Festival - a large festival daisy and a hand clutching a burning torch in the central part and many small silhouettes of a dove of peace on the side facades.

On the streets of festival Moscow one could also see naturalistic panels made in old traditions, outdated garlands and patterns, and posters with stenciled faces. But the best visual solutions have shown continuous searches expressive means, the interest of artists in the synthesis of decorative elements with architecture.

The festive decorations of Moscow during the Festival transformed the entire city. Trucks and cars painted in the five colors of the festival moved along the streets. Many streets these days acquired festival names - Street of Peace, Street of Friendship, Street of Happiness, Street of Fifteen Republics. Some of them remained in the city toponymy.

During demonstrations, mass meetings and sports competitions, huge images of the festival daisy, the coat of arms of the Soviet Union and the dove of peace, suspended from balloons, hovered over the squares and streets of Moscow in the light of spotlights.

In conclusion, I will show a selection of sketches of the festive decorations of Moscow for the VI World Festival of Youth and Students. Many of them were not implemented.

Interview with Lyubov Borisova, daughter of Konstantin Mikhailovich Kuzginov, a Moscow artist, author of the emblem of the World Festival of Youth and Students.

The ideas of the World Festival of Youth and Students are succinctly and succinctly reflected in its symbol - the dear and beloved festival daisy. It is noteworthy that it was created in the Soviet Union by the Moscow artist Konstantin Mikhailovich Kuzginov.

– Tell us how your father’s idea earned worldwide recognition?

– The basis for the success that befell my father in his work on the emblem of the VI Festival of Youth and Students in Moscow was the fact that how professional artist by that time he had already created a number of posters that decorated festivals in Budapest and Berlin in 1949 and 1951. But let's go back to 1957. An All-Union competition was announced to create an emblem for the festival, in which anyone could take part. In total, about 300 sketches from all over the Union were presented. The jury immediately drew attention to my father's flower, which was simple, but at the same time unique. The fact is that the sketches sent to the competition either repeated Pablo Picasso’s dove, which was the symbol of the first youth festival, or suffered from the complexity of the drawing. The latter was unacceptable, since when the scale was changed, for example to a breastplate, the emblem lost its meaning. Vasily Ardamatsky in his book “Five Petals” writes that “real art does not tolerate repetition,” so the idea associated with the image of a dove also did not become relevant. As the newspapers reported at the time, the emblem won the hearts of the participants of the world youth festival. Therefore, in 1958, the Vienna Congress of the World Federation of Democratic Youth announced that Konstantin Kuzginov’s daisy was taken as a permanent basis for all subsequent forums. Now the whole world knows this emblem. Today it is the starting point for the upcoming 60th anniversary of the festival of youth and students of Russia.

– How did the festival daisy bloom?

– In one of the interviews, my father said: “I wondered: what is a festival? And he answered like this - youth, friendship, peace and life. What more precisely can symbolize all this? While working on sketches of the emblem, I was at the dacha when flowers were blooming everywhere. The association was born quickly and surprisingly simply. Flower. The core is the globe, and around there are 5 continental petals.” The petals frame the blue globe of the Earth, on which the festival motto is written: “For peace and friendship.” I also remember he said that he was inspired as an athlete by the Olympic rings - a symbol of the unity of athletes around the world. The festival chamomile is so firmly rooted in the memory of generations and the culture of the festival that today, in my opinion, it is extremely difficult to come up with something new, more capacious and concise. It is very important to preserve it, because it is the history and heritage of our country.

– You have collected a very interesting collection of various items with the symbols of the festival.

- Yes, my dad started collecting it. Then I continued. This is a unique collection of artifacts. And it’s great when everyday things are decorated with the emblem of such a bright event. In the collection, in addition to badges, postcards and stamps, you can see a cup, mugs, matchboxes, cufflinks, photo albums and much more. Thanks to antique stores and all kinds of flea markets, I am still adding to this collection. I think that this experience should definitely be used when organizing the upcoming festival. You always want to leave something as a keepsake. Back in 1957, they understood that they needed their own unique symbol, in the image of which the spirit of the festival would be embedded. And the involvement of modern youth in the creation of something similar, the opportunity to take initiative, and perhaps discover new talents thanks to the competition, is an absolute plus.

– And finally, what would your father wish for future participants? XIX World festival of youth and students 2017?

“I think he would be happy to learn that our country will host this grandiose event again, and would wish the Festival and its participants prosperity, joy, happiness, peace and friendship.” There are many epithets, but the main thing is that young people are imbued with these words and keep them in their hearts.

HISTORY OF WORLD FESTIVALS OF YOUTH AND STUDENTS

In October - November 1945, the World Conference of Democratic Youth was held in London. It was attended by about 600 representatives from 63 countries: young communists, socialists, Christians, etc. On November 10, at the final meeting of the conference, it was decided to create the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFYD) to promote mutual understanding and cooperation among youth in all areas of economic, political, social and cultural life, the struggle against social, national and racial oppression, for peace and security of peoples, for the rights of youth. Since then, November 10 has been celebrated as World Youth Day. In August 1946, the 1st World Congress of Students met in Prague, at which the International Union of Students (ISU) was created, which declared its goal to be the struggle for peace, against fascism, colonialism, for social progress, democratic educational reform, and for the rights of students.

Soon, however, the activities of the WFDM and the MSU began to encounter opposition from the conservative, anti-democratic elements included in their composition. In October 1946, the Socialist Youth Congress was convened in the Paris suburb of Montrouge, at which the International Union of Young Socialists (IYUS) was founded; its leaders openly declared their anti-communist orientation. In 1947, the World Federation of Liberal and Radical Youth was formed in Cambridge (Great Britain) (on the basis of the International Union of Liberal and Democratic Youth that existed in 1929–40)…

In conditions of split youth movement The WFDM and the MSU fought against the Cold War and imperialist aggression. They launched a worldwide campaign of youth solidarity with the struggle of the Korean people against the armed intervention of the United States and its allies in 1950-53, and actively supported the anti-imperialist struggle of Vietnamese and Algerian patriots. Hundreds of thousands of youth organization activists collected signatures for the Stockholm Appeal and organized marches for peace and against the threat of thermonuclear war. At the call of the WFDY and MSU, progressive youth spoke out in defense of the Cuban Revolution, against the triple aggression in Egypt in 1956. Mass actions were celebrated annually in different countries February 21 (since 1949) is the Day of International Solidarity with Students and Youth Fighting for National Independence, and April 24 (since 1957) is the International Day of Youth Solidarity in the Fight against Colonialism and for Peaceful Coexistence.

The World Festivals of Youth and Students became a striking manifestation of the militant anti-imperialist solidarity of young men and women. IN various countries Youth and student conferences, seminars and symposia were held in Europe, Asia, Africa and America, where issues of strengthening peace, eliminating the colonial system, and the struggle for the socio-economic and political rights of youth and students were discussed (1st World Conference of Working Youth in Prague, 1958; International Student Conference for Peace in Prague, 1958; World Youth Forum in Moscow, 1961; International Conference of Youth and Students for Disarmament, Peace and National Independence - Florence, 1964; World Forum of Solidarity of Youth and Students in the Struggle for National Independence and Liberation , for peace - Moscow, 1964, etc.). Significant assistance was provided by the WFDY and MSS, youth unions socialist countries formed in the 50-60s. youth organizations in African countries, Arab East, South-East Asia.

Great Soviet Encyclopedia

“A BREAK IN THE IRON CURTAIN”

There are events that do not fade in emotional memory, that do not lend themselves to bitter and caustic re-evaluation, that warm the soul on the most dank “cursed” days. Remembering which, you envy yourself - did this really happen in your life?! Those that belonged to history and, at the same time, forever determined your private, little-interested fate.

50 years ago, on a July evening in 1957, feeling the prick of an unknown but piercing awl, I rushed out of the house onto Pushkinskaya Street. Three minutes later I found myself on Gorky Street, nicknamed “Broadway” by our generation, but no less Soviet, pompous and decorous for that reason. At this almost night time, something unusual was visible in her unshakably sovereign atmosphere - joyful excitement, some kind of excitement. From Manezhnaya Square, straight along the pavement, ignoring the car horns and police trills, a crowd rose, never seen on the Moscow streets. Motley, almost carnivally dressed, irreverent, cheerful, jingling guitars, beating the drums, blowing the pipes, screaming, singing, dancing on the move, intoxicated not from wine, but from freedom and the purest and best feelings, unfamiliar, unknown, multilingual - and chillingly, painfully familiar. At that moment I realized that dreams really did come true, that my post-war, courtyard youth coincided with the youth of the century. The world festival of youth and students “For peace and friendship between peoples” came to Moscow.

Living in a closed country means perceiving the geographical map of the Earth as something similar to a map of the starry sky, realizing that going to Paris is as impossible as flying to Mars. This means looking at a foreigner you accidentally meet on the street as if you were a Martian - with a mixed feeling of curiosity and fear. This means that one must forget about relatives and even acquaintances who live not in a specific country, but in some generalized, suspicious “abroad,” as if about an indecent dream. And, finally, what kind of beret or plaid shirt you wear on the street can easily be spanked as a dude, a bearer of an alien ideology, alien manners and morals, and simply for resemblance to the characters from the Krokodil magazine. By the way, he was perhaps the only source of acquaintance with foreign life. Not counting "Foreign Newsreels", where you were allowed to see the Eiffel Tower, a New York skyscraper or a Madrid bullfight for a few seconds. I know people who watched each issue of this newsreel fifteen times. Essentially, they are keyhole had the opportunity to look behind the Iron Curtain.

And in this very " iron curtain"and a huge hole was made, the name of which is the festival of youth and students. I saw this with my own eyes already on that very morning that came after an unprecedented evening. An unheard-of morning!

The festival traveled around Moscow in buses and open trucks(there weren’t enough buses for all the guests). He sailed along the Garden Ring, which was an endless human sea. All of Moscow, simple-minded, just coming to its senses after war cards and queues, not yet forgetting about the fight against cosmopolitanism and sycophancy, somehow dressed up, barely beginning to get out of the basements and communal apartments, stood on the pavement, sidewalks, rooftops and pulled hands to passing guests, yearning to shake the same warm human hands. Geographic map has found concrete embodiment. The world really turned out to be amazingly diverse. And in this diversity of races, characters, languages, customs, clothes, melodies and rhythms - they are amazingly united in the desire to live, communicate and get to know each other. Now such words and intentions seem banal. Back then, at the height of the Cold War, they were perceived as an extraordinary personal discovery. Our country opened up the world, joining the entire human race. And the world was discovering our country... I don’t remember if I ate anything or went to bed in those days. I was just happy. All 14 days, from morning to evening.

One evening we brought a group of Frenchmen to visit our classmate, in a huge Moscow communal apartment, converted from former numbers. Somehow, the entire old court found out that young Parisians were being received in the apartment on the second floor, and people flocked to us with pies, jam, of course, bottles and other gifts of the simple Russian heart. The French women roared loudly. By the way, all this happened on Pushechnaya Street, a hundred meters from the famous building, past which Muscovites in those years passed, reflexively lowering their eyes and quickening their pace.

Now I think that in the summer of ’57, the reinforced concrete regulation of Soviet existence was irrevocably shaken. It has become impossible to control everything in the world: tastes, fashion, everyday habits, music on the air. Based on the ideas, emotions, songs and dances of the festival, my generation was transformed in a matter of days. All Soviet freethinkers, all connoisseurs of jazz and modern art, fashionistas and polyglots have their origins in the summer of ’57.

No subsequent exacerbations political relations between East and West, ideological developments and persecution could not drown out the independent spirit of the festival. But it was conceived as a purely ideological event: under the guise of the struggle for peace and friendship between peoples, bourgeois foundations were undermined, the chains of colonialism were broken, and communist ideals were affirmed. But, firstly, the struggle for peace really united. And secondly, as you know, living life always broader and brighter than ideology. And the American peace fighter in Texas jeans, and the French communist, who looked like a flâneur from the Grands Boulevards, and the FIAT turner, indistinguishable from all the characters of neorealism, unconsciously punched holes in the “Iron Curtain”. Suslov's ideologists did not have the strength to patch them up.

From the memoirs of the writer Anatoly Makarov

DOVES FOR THE FESTIVAL

Among those who directly prepared the festival is Vladlen KRIVOSHEEV, now a scientist, candidate economic sciences, and then - an instructor in the organizational department of the Moscow City Komsomol Committee. Vladlen Mikhailovich was entrusted with perhaps the most exotic task...

In 1955 (two years before the festival), instructor Krivosheev was called by the then first secretary of the Komsomol Moscow State Committee, Mikhail Davydov: “From today you are freed from all matters. You'll take care of the pigeons." Pigeons?

There was another man sitting in the office, as it turned out - Joseph Tumanov (later -

People's Artist of the USSR, famous director mass folk spectacles). " The most important task! - continued Davydov. “In two years we need 100 thousand pigeons!” And Tumanov took out something like a brochure with stamps and visas -

script of the festival events.

…In 1949, the First World Peace Congress was held in Paris. An emblem was required. The famous Pablo Picasso, apparently recalling ancient legends, depicted a dove with an olive twig in its beak. So the dove became a symbol of peace. Festivals of youth and students (not only ours) were held under the motto “For peace and friendship between peoples!” The opening ceremony traditionally began with a ceremonial passage through the stadium of delegations of the participating countries. And traditionally, this passage preceded the takeoff of a flock of pigeons: the pigeons seemed to start the whole holiday.

But the flock was not enough for Tumanov. According to his idea, one after another, three waves of pigeons were supposed to soar over the Luzhniki stadium (which was hastily built for the festival) - white, followed by red, then gray. Since everything had already been approved “at the top,” Davydov emphasized: “The script is law for us.”

These three waves were what Krivosheev had to prepare.

And make sure it doesn’t happen like in Warsaw! - the “first” strictly warned.

The Warsaw festival has just ended. The pigeons messed up there - literally and figuratively. The Poles brought a huge casket to the center of the stadium and opened the lid, believing that the birds would rush into the sky with a white torch. But they did not rush, but crawled out and began to wander around the stadium, interfering with the movement of the columns... A shame, in a word.

First of all, it was decided: all sorts of exquisite chegrashi, blowers, tumblers - on the side. We bet on regular postal ones - they are capable of providing the required flight at the right time. You just need to produce the required number of them in two years. By the way, how much? The figure of 100 thousand was clearly taken out of thin air, but, oddly enough, it turned out to be appropriate. We need a guaranteed strong and hardy bird, right? Consequently, if we withdraw 100 thousand, then from this amount, due to rejection, we will receive by the required date 40 thousand of just such - young, strong. And a period of two years is also normal. If we start work now, then by 1957 the third generation will be on its wing: specimens guaranteed to be suitable for the operation.

Orders went out to the factories: “Moscow City Komsomol Committee... in fulfillment... we ask for assistance...”. Dovecotes were erected at enterprises. The Moscow Regional Executive Committee was obliged to supply fodder...

And yet they took off - 40,000 pigeons!

True, the day before there was a whole operation to transport birds to a poultry farm near Moscow and sort them - weak points aside! - seating in specially designed boxes (4000 boxes with 10 nests in each), in which the winged poor fellows had to withstand 6 hours (!), retaining the strength to fly. Then two columns of trucks, accompanied by traffic police vehicles, moved towards Moscow at four in the morning in order to be at the stadium 2 hours before the start. And there 4,000 releasers (participants of the “live background” on the eastern stand) were waiting for the signal... In general, there is a lot to tell here... But if you have never seen tens of thousands of pigeons take off at the same time - and from below they all looked white, and therefore it seemed that boiling snow lava splashed into the sky - know that you have lost a lot in life. Newsreel footage preserved this moment. The stands gasped, the spectators jumped up from their seats and applauded...