12th International Children’s Festival of Performing Arts

ENTERTAINMENT/CULTURE

12th International Children’s Festival of Performing Arts begins in Mumbai

Jan 4, 2013

By Prashant Kapadia/INS

After a decade long celebration of performing arts from across the globe, Ryan Foundation presents the 12th International Children’s Festival of Performing Arts (ICFPA), from January 4 to January 7, 2013, the festival will revolve around the theme – ‘One World for Children’, aiming at amalgamation of cultures to establish a stronger bond between the young cultural ambassadors from across the globe. The festival will kick-start with an opening parade from Ryan Global School, Andheri (West) on January 4, 2013 at 10:30 AM. With over 12,000 children from Mumbai and over 400 students and artists from 18 countries participating, the festival aims to bring forward global identity and broaden the horizons of understanding of different cultures through dance, drama and workshops.

As the vein of the performing arts, ICFPA draws most of the attention of global theatre circles. The International Festival of Performing Arts has gone through a brilliant journey of 10 years, and its 12th edition will be suffused 

with the creativity of Indian and International artists alike. The festival will be hosting over 400 children from Bangladesh, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iran, Italy, India, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Romania, Russia, Thailand, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Zambia.

The festival is hosted by Ryan Foundation, founded by Chairman Dr. Augustine F. Pinto and Managing Director, Madam Grace Pinto, who with their farsighted vision are relentlessly working to create unparalleled standards of education across the globe.

Under the theme ‘One World for Children’, ICFPA will continue its journey as the Asia’s biggest festival of performing arts for children. “An initiative as distinctive as ICFPA enables children from various cultures to come together and showcase their unique talent in form of dance, drama and workshops. With ‘‘One World for Children’’ as the underlying theme of the festival this year, we have opened a stage to all the participants to utilize this platform to the best of their potential, interact with participants from other countries and 

share their experiences. I wish all the participants the very best and hope that it will be an enriching experience for everyone,” said Managing Director, Madam Grace Pinto.

Grand Opening Ceremony

The opening ceremony will be a magnificent event, encompassing a wide variety of performances. It will be a moment of panache, when children of the world transcend all physical and cultural barriers, to come together in one common spirit of humanity, love and fraternity. Diplomats, Socialites, Bureaucrats and other eminent personalities from various walks of life will be present at the ceremony.

Date: 04th January, 2013

Time: 06:30pm IST

Venue: Shanmukhanand Hal, Sion, Mumbai.

Opening Parade An Opening parade will be carried out with all the national and international participants. Children of the world will walk together, hand in hand, with flags of all the nations flying high. It will be a colorful extravaganza as circus jugglers, acrobats and other entertainers will join this cosmopolitan march. Parade will be carried out on 4thJanuary 2013, at 10:30AM, from Ryan Global School, Andheri

This special edition of the festival is welcomed by the city and around 25,000 viewers are expected to fill Three of its venues which will be – Sri Shanmukhananda Chandrasekarendra Saraswathi Auditorium, Mysore Association Hall & Ryan Global School, Andheri

Utkarsh Marwah, Festival Director adds “Politics divide and Arts Unite, the best evidence is the popularity of Pakistani artists in India. Today we need forums like these where artist can collaborate and explore various genres of performing Arts. Children are the future of any nation and its best to catch them young and make them experience the Unity in diversity. Let the children of the world enjoy the celebrations of oneness”.