Thaindian News

New Delhi, Dec 8 (IANS) Over 10,000 children from 100 schools across India and over 800 from 25 countries will present their traditional performing arts to raise awareness of the issues that concern the world at the 11th International Children’s Festival of Performing Arts that began here Thursday.

The festival kicked off with a parade comprising children, jugglers, acrobats and entertainers - from the Ambedkar Stadium to the National Bal Bhavan followed by a grand opening at the Talkatora Stadium.

The festival is being presented by Ryan Foundation in collaboration with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and the National Bal Bhavan.

Themed on “The World Is My Playground”, it is not just limited to viewing performances but also focuses on creating an international platform for young people to perform, unite, exchange ideas and explore the medium of dance, drama, puppetry and various other genres of performing arts at discussions.

“Promoting global identity and cultural amalgamation stands as the prime aim of countries today,” Ryan International Group of Institutions managing director Grace Pinto said.

What can be better than bringing this forward through performing arts like dance, music and theatre, and collaborations which broaden the horizons of understanding of different cultures among children, she added.

Pinto said: “From Brazil to Morocco, Romania to Pakistan, China to Uzbekistan, the festival will try to merge the cultural boundaries.”

The festival will close Dec 13.