A large crowd, including Chicago youths and other World Youth Day pilgrims, gather to welcome St. John Paul II to Toronto in 2002. The largest U.S. group to attend a World Youth Day outside of North America, 30,000 American pilgrims plan to attend the July 26-31 festival in Krakow, Poland. They will join 2.5 million pilgrims from around the world. (CNS photo/Nancy Wiechec) See WYD-US-PREPARE July 7, 2016.