Mandeep Puri

ICFPA (International Children’s Festival of Performing Arts) celebrated its 10th anniversary of spreading peace and unity through the medium of performing arts at the National Bal Bhavan, New Delhi. Under the theme ‘I can. I will.’ ICFPA will continue its journey as Asia’s biggest festival of performing arts for children. Mr. Kapil Sibal, The Human Resource Development Minister, Govt. of India, along with film maker Mr. Madhur Bhandarkar raised the curtain at the opening ceremony of ICFPA 2009. Tennis ace Mr. Mahesh Bhupati was also a part of the festival’s decade celebration. This four day festival will conclude on 19th Dec, 2009.

The opening ceremony turned out to be a magnificent event, encapsulating a vivid range of performances and presentations. The children of the world transcended all physical and cultural barriers to come together in one common spirit of humanity, love and fraternity. People of Delhi welcomed the festival and over 20,000 viewers thronged to fill all the four venues which were-National Bal Bhavan, Little Theatre Group, Pearey Lal Bhavan and Shri Ram Centre. The grand gala was a compilation of 250 productions from different countries and cultures. Trainers from selected nations worked together with the Indian children to facilitate the cultural exchange making it a ‘festival for the children of the world’.

“This unique initiative is aiming at bringing children from different parts of the world under one roof and makes them perform on a single platform. Over the years the festival is growing with the expectations and of our participants and I am happy that it is entering into its 10th successful year. I hope children of Delhi will enjoy the performances and learn various cultures”, noted Managing Director, Madam Grace Pinto.

To mark the occasion, an Opening Parade was carried out from Jantar Mantar to National Bal Bhavan in the morning with all the national and international participants at the festival. The children of the world walked hand in hand, with flags of all the nations flying high. These young global ambassadors represented the global mission of creating a world without violence, hatred and war as they sang together shouting slogans for a Peaceful World. It was a colorful extravaganza as circus jugglers, acrobats and scores of other entertainers joined the cosmopolitan march.

At another event at National Bal Bhavan, children from all across the globe participated in one of the most exciting event witnessed ever. The 10th International Children’s Festival of Performing Arts geared up to run the buses of World Peace. To give world peace more prominence, the children were invited to paint the “Bus OF World Peace” with their emotions in the form of peace messages. It was an overwhelming site to watch children from various countries play with colors and paint the replica of peace together. Once painted, these buses carrying expressions of peace and bonding will parade the streets of the capital to display world unity and peace.

As the vein of the performing arts, ICFPA draws most of the attention of global theatre circle. The festival is hosted by Ryan Foundation, which was 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. ICFPA has gone through a brilliant journey of 9 years and in its 10th edition, it has been suffused with the creativity of Indian and International artists alike. Presented by Ryan Foundation in association with National Bal Bhavan and Indian Council for Cultural Relations, this festival will host over 5000 children from countries like Bangladesh, Germany, Iran, Israel, India, Latvia, Nigeria, Nepal, Pakistan, Romania, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Zambia, Finland, Indonesia, Italy, Switzerland, Thailand among other countries.