13 schools to participate in festival

Imran Mojib, Special Correspondent

As part of its mission to discover and develop artistic talents and provide a nurturing platform for aspirants in the creative fields, Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) will host the second edition of Dubai Festival for School Theatre from April 21-25 in Dubai.

Last year, Dubai Culture sponsored the Festival, while this year the Authority has adopted it, in terms of organising and sponsoring, in order to achieve the strategic objectives in leveraging the artistic awareness and facilitating the artistic talent. The main aim of the Festival is to increase the participation from schools across the emirate of Dubai and promote the performing arts sector, facilitating an innovative culture and elevating the taste of young generation in this particular field of art. This year the total number of participation has more than tripled from the last edition, reaching a total of 13 boys and girls government schools, wherein students will compete at all educational stages, including elementary, intermediate, and secondary.

Saeed Al Nabouda, Acting Director General at Dubai Culture, said, “This Festival is a strong pillar that supports our mission of discovering and developing local talents and contributes to promote the school theatre activities in Dubai. It also works for leveraging the artistic capabilities of the students and instructors in the government schools. At Dubai Culture, we have always been keen on enhancing this particular field of art and working with our strategic partners to help the talent to polish their skills and become capable of participating in the performing art festivals in the Emirate, the region and globally, in the line with our aim of supporting the local talent and promoting them to participate at the international levels in this field.”

“This Festival is part of our continuous efforts to strengthen the creative industries and position Dubai as a major cultural venue and an important destination globally, by empowering the cultural, heritage, arts, and literature sectors. We hope that such events will help promote the cultural tourism in Dubai and enable us to diversify the economy, and inculcate other positive effects, especially the promotion of social cohesion,” Al Nabouda concluded.

Dubai School Theatre Festival highlights the creativity of students in government schools, in the field of performing arts, and helps them to identify their talents and potentials, thereby encouraging them to participate in other national and international festivals.