The 6th World Festival of Youth and Students was held from 28 July to 5 August 1957 in Moscow, capital city of the then Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

A minor international incident was provoked around the attendance of left-wing Iraqi writer Ga'ib Tu'ma Farman at the festival.

The Iraqi government revoked Farman's citizenship while he was abroad, effectively stranding him in Moscow as a stateless person.

Edita Piekha, Vladimir Troshin and international guests of the festival together performed the popular song Moscow Nights.

Reverend Warren McKenna, Joanne Grant, Sally Belfrage, and folk singer Peggy Seeger attended the festival as part of the US delegation and later went on a propaganda trip to Communist China.