From 1978 to 1988, the SDAJ organized the Festival of Youth biannually together with the Marxist Student Association Spartacus (MSB).

For example, the 1978 festival included figures such as Jutta Weinhold, Snowball, Udo Lindenberg, Puhdys and the Titi Winterstein Quintet.

Until the fall of the GDR, the SDAJ maintained contact with Free German Youth (FDJ), a sibling organization.

The defeated faction grouped around then national chairman Birgit Radow and left the Congress.

Due to the slight increase in membership, the bi-annual Festival of Youth was refounded in 2008 in Jugendpark of Cologne.