Kid's Festival in Sarajevo from June 3rd to 6th

From June 3rd to 6th, the 13th Kid's Festival will be held in Sarajevo, during which several thousand children from all over Bosnia and Herzegovina will parade over four festival days. The international character of the festival will be confirmed by the presence of numerous embassies and diplomatic missions accredited in our country.

Among the partners are the French Institute, the Goethe Institute, an ensemble is coming from Bulgaria, and guests from the Main Command of the Polish Police.

Raiffeisen Bank has been supporting the festival for ten years, and director Karlheinz Dobnigg said that it is not just about financial support, but also that bank employees socialize with children during the festival.

- Our support for the festival reflects our sustainability strategy, where we focus on projects that provide support to children.

For the third year, USAID is a partner of the Kid's Festival, and Steve Majors, program director, invited all parents to participate in the Kid's Festival next week.

- As part of the support we offer to the Kid's Fest, there is also an inclusion corner. Our partner non-governmental organization "Give Us a Chance" will again this year offer a corner for all children to socialize and be together.

Majors said that there are 30,000 children in Bosnia and Herzegovina with some form of developmental difficulties.

- I want to thank each parent individually, and I have met many of them, for all the support they provide to children with special needs and in their efforts to ensure that every child is included in their community. I want to thank every parent who teaches their typical children that every child and every human being is special and deserves love. This inclusion corner will also offer every child a place to spend time together with their friends and socialize while at the Kid's Fest - said Majors.

For the second year in a row, UNESCO is the patron of the Kid's Festival, as confirmed by Siniša Šešum, head of the UNESCO office in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

- The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, confirmed that UNESCO is the patron of the Kid's Fest for the second time this year. This is very important to us; four days ago was May 21st, the Day of Cultural Diversity, a day celebrated worldwide with various cultural projects that promote diversity for dialogue and development. The Kid's Festival, with its rich activities, provides an excellent opportunity for children and youth to participate in peacebuilding by promoting respect for cultural differences and bringing cultures closer together with innovative ideas, visions, and imagination.

Šešum emphasized that messages of peace are needed more than ever today, and those coming from children cannot and must not be ignored.

Director of the Kid's Festival, Susanne Prahl, said that everything is ready for the upcoming festival. She particularly highlighted the cooperation with the Art Gallery of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

- Through joint work with the Art Gallery, children will not only see art but create art and be our indicators of how the future will look better. It is important that we consider children to be the pillar of society - said Prahl.

During the festival, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Sarajevo Canton, together with colleagues from Poland, will organize workshops for children and talk about the advantages of the internet, and especially the dangers that lurk. Traffic safety will also be one of the topics.

This year's Kid's Festival will be held in parts of Alija Izetbegović Square, the Dom Armije BiH (House of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina), and the Art Gallery of Bosnia and Herzegovina.