A year-round community youth initiative that will travel to different governorates across the kingdom with the aim of transforming local neighbourhoods and areas into interactive spaces will launch today at the Northern Sehla Youth Enabling Centre.
The Al Fareej Festival, organised by the Youth Affairs Ministry, will be held throughout this weekend.
The festival aims to bring together young people, children and families and events featuring talent, creativity, heritage, technology and entertainment.
Being held in co-operation with the Bahrain Inherited Traditional Sports Committee (Mawrooth), the first stop combines the authenticity of Bahraini heritage with the contemporary spirit of young people. It will feature a diverse range of programmes and activities celebrating heritage while providing young people with opportunities to showcase their talents, creativity and projects.
“The Al Fareej Festival comes as part of the vision to strengthen young people’s presence and participation within their local communities by providing interactive platforms that enable them to contribute to the design and delivery of events,” the ministry said in a statement. “This helps foster a spirit of initiative and community belonging, while strengthening ties between members of the community.
“The festival will adopt a community-based model built around the concept of ‘from the community, for the community’, with activities being held throughout the year between four locations across the kingdom’s governorates in co-operation with youth empowerment centres.
“This approach allows for fresh experiences that are accessible to local residents, while transforming neighbourhoods into community destinations that bring together people of different age groups.”
While it mostly targets people aged 15 to 35, the festival will also contain programmes and activities open to children and families.
It aims to create an inclusive community space where the interests of different generations come together, transforming participation from simply attending an event into meaningful interaction and active contribution.
The festival will offer a diverse programme reflecting young people’s interests, including heritage programmes, traditional games and traditional crafts, alongside technology, space, the arts, theatre and a youth market.
It will also feature a mental health corner, electronic games, sports activities and participation from productive families.
It aims to empower young people to showcase their talents and projects, strengthen their sense of support and belonging within their communities, and broaden their participation at neighbourhood and local levels.
The festival also seeks to create sustainable and recurring community experiences led by young people, helping to foster hope and optimism for the future.
“Through the diversity of its stops and programmes, the Al Fareej Festival seeks to become a renewed community occasion that brings young people closer to their surroundings and enables the wider community to gain a greater appreciation of their energy, talents and abilities,” the ministry said. “In doing so, it reflects the richness of Bahraini society and reinforces the role of young people as active partners in the development of their communities.”
nader@gdnmedia.bh
&uuid=(email))