FESTIVAL OF ECOLOGICAL THEATER
FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH
One weekend before the last weekend of August (Thursday to Sunday)
At first glance at our local community, you can see a lack of adequate space in which culture would be nurtured and cultural events held. There is also a lack of institutions that consider this problem and act proactively towards it's solution. Artists, employees in field of culture and it's consumers are “thrown outside”. But – for more than two decades, systematically solving this problem, we strive to transform our disadvantages into our advantages. Because of that, this manifestation has become unique in the World, as the only theater festival held in a town without a theater. This Festival is a sole chance for children and youth to see good plays by theaters from our and from other countries, and to take part in a variety of creative workshops.
Although Bačka Palanka has no theater, fully functional cinema, nor museum, we have beautiful natural resources such as Natural Park Tikvara, Special Natural Preservation Bagremara, Danube and it's coast, it's marches and ponds. When you say „culture“, you also say „nature“, because we find those two words indivisible. Ecological importance of this Festival is not only in ecological topics which it works on, but also a fact that a whole festival is held in nature, healthy and ecological environment on coast of Danube. Every year, on same place, the Festival provides stage and equipment needed for performing plays, workshops and other programme, and also an accomodation and other logistics for guests and performers.
Festival is more popular from year to year, and it's programme is progressivly better, having participants from all over the world. Festival's syntesis between tradition and enthusiasm made it internationally important and recognized, which put it on the world festival map. But it never lost it's local and regional importance, because:
- It animates more than 200 volunteers (young from Bačka Palanka, Serbia and neighbouring countries)
- Thanks to the Festival, volunteers have traveled to educations, seminares and trainings at different places of Serbia and Europe on subjects such as: Ecology, tolerance, cultural diversity, teamwork, project making and writing, youth leadership and so on.
- Every year around:
- 1500 children with parents visit theater play programme.
- Over 200 students take part in realization and Festival's organization.
- More than 300 children and young ones take part in creative-artistic workshops.
- Over 1000 people take part in ecological actions.
- Are made exclusively for children younger that 10
- Are performed by professionals
- Express themselves with any theater way suitable for children (puppet plays, acted plays, coreo dramas, theater of shadows, musicals, mono dramas, duo dramas...)
- Have topics such as ecology (of nature), ecology of spirit
- Award for the best play in whole, by the decision of professional jury (50,000 RSD and a plaque)
- Award for the best play for children, by the decision of children jury (plaque)
- Award for the best play by the decision of audience (plaque)
- Personal awards, by the decision of professional jury (special award, award for actor, award for visual identity etc.)
- Festival's Council's and Artistic Department's award for exceptional contribution to art for children and youth (plaque)
Organizational core of this festival is made of young people who grew up with the Festival and took part in it, some of them from their very birth! Many have been directed by it, profiled, so that way, we now have professional actors, directors, sound designers and light designers who return to their hometown so they can bring value to their local community and future generations, knowing what kind of influence has this manifestation had on their personal development.
PROGRAMME
Programme concept of Festival of Ecological Theater for Children and Youth is made so that every year another topic is chosen. Topic is chosen by Festival's Council and programme coordinators, who take into consideration the actuality and importance of certain topics and ideas.
MAIN PROGRAMME (Competitive)
PLAYS FOR CHILDREN
November 1st is a date when FEP declares open it's Competition for Participation on the Festival. It stays open for 2 months, closing on December 31th . All professional theaters for children and youth are called upon to send their applications and take part in the Festival.
Plays that can TAKE PART:
THE WAY OF SELECTION:
Selection starts with analysis of received applications. The ones that pass this first step are selected to be watched by the selector, after which theater organizers are contacted for agreement about date and place of the performance that can be watched by the selector. After seeing all of them, selector chooses 5 to 10 play that will be part of competitive programme of FEP.
Main criteria for selection of plays are their artistic quality, and also compatibility with Festival's technical possibilities. The choice is up to Festival's selector.
Final results are shown on Festival's website (www.fep.org.rs), on March 1st or before.
Selected plays will be competing for award “DOBRO DRVO”(eng. “GOOD TREE”) in these categories:
Professional jury award is decided by 3-member jury made of:
- affirmed drama artists,
- pedagogue (exceptionally awarded and known for work with children),
- ecologist.
Award of children jury is decided by a 7-member jury made of children who have special affinity towards drama art, age 4 to 14. Jury's mentor is a teacher.
Award of audience is decided by evaluating plays on scale from 1 to 5, and also on emotional scale for those younger than 5 years.
Award for exceptional contribution to art for children and youth is decided by Festival's Council and Artistic Department.
TERMS:
Regarding Festival's position and material situation, the expense of the transportation to Bačka Palanka is not covered by the Festival. On the other side, local transportation, accommodation, meals and technical support is provided or covered by the Festival.
Festival of Ecological Theater for Children and Youth is an association of nonprofit and charity character. Entrance and participation in whole Festival's programme is free.
FOLLOWING PROGRAMME (Non competitive character)
WORKSHOPS
Application period is from March 1st to April 1st 2019. The result of the selection are 10 creative-artistic workshops for any age of participants. Concept of workshops is such that they occur for 3 days (Thursday to Saturday) from 10AM to 1PM. Sunday, the last day of the Festival, is reserved for workshops presentation, where participants can share their impressions and creations. Presentations take form of artwork exhibition, drama performance, public debate etc, depending of workshops' topic. Workshops are mostly of drama, ecological and painting character.
PLAYS FOR YOUTH
As part of the noncompetitive drama programme, Programme Council of the Festival selects plays which are performed by young and for young, or plays of experimental character meant for children and youth.
Following programme of the Festival is also consisted from musical programme, public discussions, seminary, exhibitions and similar; depending on annual topic of the Festival.
ECOLOGICAL ACTIONS
ECO PATROL
Eco Patrol promotes ecologically acceptable transport and boosts the awareness of importance of nature and environment. It patrols through the town on specially constructed bicycles and shares positive and negative grades to citizens, which describes the state of their environment.
BICYCLE PARADE
Every year, before the Festival's opening ceremony, over 500 bicycles go from town center to the venue.
BE ECO, COME TO FEP BY BICYCLE!
WE RECYCLE PLASTIC CORKS!
Entrance to any Festival's activity is 10 corks. Money made from recycling is directed to charity.
«TO ENTER FEP – BRING A CORK!»
RECYCLING ELECTRICAL GARBAGE
By participating in this action, we get rid of garbage from home, and we upgrade our environment with it's proper handling. Money earned by recycling is directed to charity. If citizens don't have logistical possibility to transport their electric garbage, they can call Eco Patrol and it will come to their address, and transport the garbage for free.
FEP's ECO TRANSPORT
Quadricycle taxis are positioned in bicycling zone in town center, and every festival day it transports passengers. This way we make it available for persons with special needs to use ecologically acceptable transport, and also to be a part of FEP's bicycle parade. Transportation service is free and available for anyone, but advantage is given to children with special needs.