Project description: With the support of the CfD project, the 28th edition of the Festival of Ecological Theater for Children and Youth was held in Bačka Palanka, covering all phases from preparation to realization and evaluation. Over forty applications were received for the competition for the 28th FEP, from which the Artistic Committee of the Festival selected the competition lineup. A similar process was followed for workshop applications, with ten final workshops chosen. The festival’s opening ceremony, preceded by a large bicycle parade, was attended by over five hundred people, and during the festival, ten performances were presented in the competition selection. In addition to the main program, expert panels on the migrant crisis and children in wars were held, as well as roundtable discussions for the authors of the performances, the jury, institutional representatives, collaborators from the region, educators, and all interested visitors. More than a thousand tickets were sold, and over two hundred children and young people, along with their parents, participated in the workshops. The “Recycle or Donate” initiative collected over one ton of waste, and all proceeds from recycling and ticket sales were donated to charity. The festival filled the entire accommodation capacity of Bačka Palanka, hosting over 150 artists, educators, and ecologists from Serbia, the region, and abroad, demonstrating the festival’s significance for the local community. At the festival’s conclusion, six “Good Tree” awards were presented, along with awards for the best volunteer. Given the organizers’ identification of growing intolerance toward refugees, migrants, and anyone representing a different culture, sexual orientation, or deviating from “norms,” a professional panel on migration was organized, titled “The Movement of Children in Migration, Wars, and Other Crisis Situations.” This year, as in previous years, a significant portion of the program was dedicated to the intersection of ecology and art, aiming to raise awareness among the youth about environmental preservation through performances that address ecological themes or are made from eco-friendly materials, bike tours through the city, outdoor performances, and minimal printed material production. In response to current community issues, a social distance study on refugees in Bačka Palanka was conducted, along with the screening of the documentary film Connecting the Dots, which discusses mental health issues from the perspective of young people. This is the first documentary of its kind to convey the voices of youth from around the world.
Grant amount: 900,000.00 RSD
