2009 Tianjin International Children’s Cultural and Art Festival Held

The 2009 Tianjin International Children’s Cultural and Art Festival cosponsored by the CPAFFC and the Tianjin Municipal Government was held in Tianjin from July 25 to 30. Zhang Gaoli， secretary of the Tianjin Municipal Committee of the CPC; Huang Xingguo， mayor of Tianjin; Jing Dunquan， vice president of the CPAFFC; officials of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China， as well as foreign countries’ diplomatic envoys attended the opening ceremony.

The Festival was initiated in 1998， and so far has been held successfully for 6 times. At this year’s festival with the theme of “peace， friendship and future”， 25 children’s art groups with a total of more than 2，000 children from 36 countries and regions around the world and 24 Chinese provinces， municipalities and autonomous regions happily gathered together in Tianjin and gave performances. Besides large-scale performances at the opening and closing ceremonies， these art groups put on over 100 wonderful performances rich in national features at a dozen venues， attracting a total audience of several hundred thousand.

During the Festival， the organizing committee arranged a series of varied activities such as the International Children’s City of Joy， the unveiling ceremony of the Peace Wall， the Children’s Painting Competition， Chinese and foreign children’s gala party， the Great Wall climbing， the International Forum on the Development of Children’s Art， etc.

The Festival provided a platform for children from various countries to carry out exchanges in art and culture. Though the children didn’t know each other’s language and had different cultural backgrounds， through art exchanges they learned from each other， forged friendship and broadened their vision.