A treasure trove of stories to come alive at Hawa Mahal

Visakhapatnam: Storytelling sessions, interactive workshops, meeting with authors, stage presentations and many more are in store for the audience as the fifth edition of Lit Lantern Culture and Literature Welfare Society’s ‘Vizag Junior Literature Fest-2024’ will commence from Saturday (November 23).

The two-day festival aims at entertaining the audience, mostly students between the age group of four and 16 years, with a host of interesting sessions that sum up to over 40 at Hawa Mahal.

This is the first time the festival is featuring sessions in Telugu and Hindi apart from English, explained the festival directors Sonal Sarda, Priya Uppalapati and Sandhya Godey.

Commenced in 2018, literature and theatre fests such as these brought renowned authors, celebrities and artistes from across the world on to a platform, facilitating a unique exposure and learning experience to the writers, storytellers, children and adults.

This year, the fest includes conversation on neuro-diversity. “It teaches children how to be more inclusive, and helps them accept those facing such conditions,” mentioned Sonal Sarda.

Apparently, there is a huge emphasis on bringing children back to the literature of India and facilitating them a platform to explore new opportunities.

In addition, sessions like ancient texts, Bhagavad Gita, yoga sutras, Upanishads and Arthashastra will be held. Also, the workshops will focus on climate change, encouraging children to contribute to climate conservation, make the world less polluted and a better place to live in.

As most sessions stress on family, empathy and values, the event aids in drawing children away from screens and connecting them with ‘real’ entertainment.

From Panchatantra to Vikram Betaal and folk tales, the event brings a treasure trove of stories of India to the audience. “Children can learn from authors, illustrators, storytellers arriving from various parts of the world as there are several sessions that entertain them for the next two days,” shared Priya Uppalpati.

International storyteller from South Africa Bongiswa to narrate tales at the event. “I am very grateful that my journey that started in 2018 with the fest organisers took me to greater heights, gaining more popularity,” the international storyteller said after presenting a narrative on Friday.

For book lovers, Pages-The Book Shop is hosting an exhibition where readers can get books signed by authors at the venue and also get a chance to take a selfie with them.

Organised by Lit Lantern Culture and Literature Welfare Society, the fest will see Swatantra Theatre Group and Bhoomika troupe presenting a series of sessions during the two-day-long event that continues till November 24.

An outreach programme was held on Friday as a team from Boomika troupe visited schools and treated thousands of students to interesting stories.