Youth Performing Arts Festival ready to kickoff

Four-day-long event to showcase talent in dance, music, theatre, film and puppetry

KARACHI:

The creative spirit of Pakistan’s cultural hub, Lahore, is set to come alive as organisers of the Youth Performing Arts Festival (YPAF) gear up to enthral audiences with a string of exciting performances.

The festival, which is being organised by the Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop (RPTW), will span over four days, showcasing the youth’s diverse talents in the realm of performing arts. The 13th instalment of the event will kick off on October 16 at the  Alhamra Cultural Complex, Gaddafi Stadium.

Featuring dance, theatre, music, film and puppetry, the YPAF aims at inculcating creative learning and artistic growth in the youth. Similar in both style and format to the RPTW’s World Performing Arts Festival (WPAF), the YPAF has become a torchbearer for similar festivals being organised throughout the country, stated a press release.

During the course of the festival, nearly 100 performances will be staged. The event seeks to expose participants and audiences to the many facets of performing and visual arts. This makes it a melting pot of styles, genres, disciplines, ideas and outlooks, creating an opportunity for the youth to share and learn.



In addition to the festival, live theatre, which will be performed by various schools, colleges and individual theatre groups, will be performed every day. A dance night is scheduled to be held on October 17, and a multi-band concert titled ‘Rock Night’ has been organised for October 18.

As compared to preceding years, the festival’s format has been altered this year, which will see a high competition quotient. Renowned judges from the fields of both performing and fine arts will be presiding over the competition in all five categories. “This edition is different from the previous ones,” said Alena Peerzada, the creative director of the festival. “This year, we are returning to Alhamra Theatre and unlike previous seasons, the festival will be competition-based and will feature an awards night,” she added.

She further said, “We also have an esteemed panel of judges, which includes notable artistes, such as Omair Rana, Usman Peerzada, Claire Pamment and Yamina Peerzada.” The redesigned format attempts to set the bar for competition even higher, allowing budding artistes to celebrate diversity of the arts utilising the YPAF platform.

Not only does the festival promise to project artistes, but also offer the audience an opportunity to increase their skill set by learning crafts, such as that of puppet making, a workshop for which will be conducted by Yamina on October 19.

The festival has made arrangements to meet specific needs of the participating artistes, and will be equipped with lights, sound system and black masking, among other technical facilities. Several academic institutions from across the country will take part in the competition, including Beaconhouse School System, National College of Arts, Beaconhouse National University, The City School and Froebel’s International School.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 16^th, 2014.

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