Host country East Germany | Date 1951 (1951) | |
 | ||
Participants 26,000, from 104 countries | ||
The Third World Festival of Youth and Students (WFYS) was held in 1951, in East Berlin, East Germany, and organised by World Federation of Democratic Youth.
The third WFYS was held in a period of growing international tension between the Soviet Union and the western powers; it took place against the background of the Korean War and the spread of communism in Central Europe and China. The festival was meant to showcase the young German Democratic Republic, formed in the Soviet sector of postwar Germany.
The motto of the festival was: For Peace and Friendship – Against Nuclear Weapons.
People from west were obstructed from travelling to the festival by West German police and American military. Some of them where shot at, when trying to cross the border.
The festival's sports programme featured an athletics competition.