Art and culture: starting young

For the first time in Malta, we are putting the spotlight on children for more than a single day in the year, World Children's Day, but for over a month of activities with the staging of the Malta Children's Festival.

We want to introduce arts and culture to the children from an early age, looking at opportunities to connect education and culture. This has been something I have wanted to do for a long time and I am glad we have found some excellent partners in this endeavour.

The first edition of the Malta Children's Festival is celebrating the European Year of Creativity and Innovation and has as its theme: Imagine, Create, Innovate. This is something that our children will have no difficulty achieving for, while celebrating their innocence. They are so open to the right sort of stimulation that such events bring to them.

A packed programme of activities has been prepared, which started on November 2 and ends on December 6. Apart from holding several activities in schools, the focus will be on the capital city in order to encourage parents and guardians to bring children to Valletta to experience the richness and see for themselves the heritage of the city, apart from being entertained by the events themselves.

Education and culture should not be mundane and this is what the first Malta Children's Festival is out to demonstrate. A host of the events being organised will introduce a fun element, stimulating the children and fostering the love of culture from an early age. The more we do so now, the more they will grow into good citizens of this country in the future.

Yet, without the commitment of parents and guardians, who are prepared to bring the children to these activities, the festival will not be a success. Yes, there are events in schools where the festival is brought to the children thanks to the Office of the Commissioner for Children, which is organising Ġuġinu's Tour in no fewer than 13 schools around Malta and Gozo, apart from local councils. This is to mark the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child. Still, the parents must play their part and we expect them to be aware of the programme and make the necessary effort to bring their children over.

Certainly, Valletta will be specially decked out to prepare for the festival and to be as child-friendly as possible for the duration of this month.

Apart from having a focus on arts and culture, we are also integrating the element of sport, which is so important in children's overall well-being and should become part of their everyday routine. I am convinced that children will take something valuable from this experience.

My thanks go to all those who are collaborating to ensure the success of the festival, including the President of the Republic, the Directorate for Quality and Educational Standards, the Directorate for Educational Services, the St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, the Manoel Theatre, the National Library, Heritage Malta and the St John's Co-Cathedral Foundation.

For the first edition of the Malta Children's Festival to be declared a success, everyone must play their part so that the children attending the events will take a positive impression away with them. This is all part of their character formation and any form of exposure to culture and the arts at this tender age will surely leave an indelible mark just before they enter their teenage years.

I urge everybody to participate and to play their part to ensure the festival will become a fixed part of the annual calendar of events that our children can look forward to from one year to the next.

The author is director, Malta Children's Festival.