Somnath Chatterjee inaugurates 8th Intl children arts fest

New Delhi, Nov 23 (UNI) The Eighth International Children Festival of Performing Arts began here tonight with nearly 5000 children from 30 countries making a fervent plea for World peace through the medium of art.

Inaugurating the festival, organised by the Ryan International schools in association with the National Bal Bhawan, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, the chief guest at the inaugural function, lauded the holding of such festivals which serve the purpose of bringing people from across the globe together to spread the message of peace.

''India is known for its unity and diversity, a message that has been put through beautifully today in the form of this festival,''Mr Chatterjee said.

The opening ceremony was a glittering affair attended by many celebrities from the world of performing arts as well as diplomats of several missions in India.

The highlight of the opening ceremony was the unique global dance by 100 children from all the 30 participating countries pulsating in harmony to the beats of the national song of India 'Vande Mataram'.

The six day event, which will conclude on November 28, brings together more than 5000 young cultural ambassadors from across the globe to celebrate the theme 'Let's Give Peace a Chance'.

Over the next five days children from India, Canada, Croatia, Estonia, Germany, Israel, Iran, Malaysia, Nepal, Nigeria, Netherlands, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri lanka, Turkey, Thailand, UK, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh will present more than 200 performances in dance, drama, music, mime and puppetry at the Kamani auditorium, Sri Ram Centre for Performing arts, National Bal bhawan and LTG auditorium.

Speaking about the festival, the managing director of the Ryan International Group of Institutions, Grace Pinto said,''The time is just ripe, to percolate down, to the youth of the World, that peace is the ultimate tool to achieve peaceful co-existence for the human race to gown and bond together. In pursuit of this goal, the next five days will see performances revolving around working together to give peace a chance.'' UNI