Kid Festival Brings Joyous Weekend For Capital's Children

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Jan, 2019 ) :Amid passionate call for arranging more kid festivals in the Federal capital once a month, the children and their families lauded the efforts of Kindle Foundation for holding a 'Children Literature Festival' to engage school-age children in extra-curricular activities in festive environment.

The festival received a overwhelming response from the citizens of twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi as a large number of children along with their parents thronged to the two-day long kindle festival held here at Aiwan-e-Quid in F-9 Fatima Jinnah Park.

A number of stalls, exhibition and displays were arranged for the visitors and some schools were also being invited to the event for holding competition and learning sessions for children.

The visitors enjoyed the event and also urged the authorities concerned to make efforts for arranging such event in the federal capital as such activities were mandatory for mental growth of their kids.

Talking to APP, Event Director Dr Zulfikar Ali Khan said Kindle Foundation was founded in 2014 and always showed alacrity to hold such activates which were aimed at sensitizing the children about health and environmental hazards. The focus of organization was to facilitate a common man, he added.

He said as many as 16 thousands people visited this place in these two days, adding that he had received around 400 phone calls seeking information about the event.

For the first time, he said, a multi-disciplinary event was arranged and specifically designed for the children, saying not a single penny was being charged from the public.

"We hold such programmes just to see a smile on the kids' faces," he remarked.

The director said he would like to ask the authorities concerned to realize the fact that the public in a dire need of such activities in prevailing situation.

"Not a single institution came forward to facilitate us despite the announcement was made a month earlier," he complained.

A visitor from G-9 Muhammad Riaz urged the departments concerned to arrange such festivals in the capital and said "I have never seen such event in the capital, previously" he informed.

Aniya Ali, a children came along her parents and stood at painting stall to get her face painted, said she really enjoyed bangle stalls and story telling session. The story telling sessions and performance of schools children in art gallery was amazing, she added.

Another visitor Mrs Ashfa complained about the high rates of the books available at installed stalls and regretted that the foods were available at cheap rates while books were not.

The Project Director Wali Imran Khan who organized the two-day event, voluntarily said the programme was aimed at imparting education and knowledge among low-age students by promoting literature and book reading culture among them. Besides, it would also help inculcate innovation and creativity among the children for which different games and competitions were being arranged under this project.

Expressing his resolve for initiating more such projects, he said the arrangement of physical activities and other games under one roof would provide the students an opportunity to groom psychologically and boost their confidence.

Another official informed that as many as 56 stalls of various kinds were being installed including book stalls, hygienic food and beverage stalls, handicrafts, truck art, painting and others.

"Two online book vans are also invited to promote online reading culture among students," the official added.

To a question, he said the National Book Foundation withdrew its collaboration at eleventh hour due to undisclosed reasons Talking to APP, a visitor Sheraz Nasir who came along his family said such events should be organized by the authorities concerned once a week in the federal capital and complained that such events were being held once in blue moonHe pointed out the other areas like Lahore and Karachi where such programmes were being arranged by the government departments regularly.

Another visitor Aimen Sheraz termed it an enticement for the children and said such activities required to escape their overloaded study work.