Lasting five days, the Festival brought together young people from Estonia, Lithuania and Poland; about 300 altogether although a group from Belarus were unable to be present on account of official travel problems.
Organised by the Salesian Educational Centre in Różanystok and by the “Unzipped Fly” Artistic Agency (sic) the gathering had a strong international flavour, and among those invited there was also a group from Perù, accompanied by two Salesians.
The young people took part in various seminars and work-shops: theatre, painting, sculpture, music, but also South-American Dancing, cooking and martial arts. Each day ended with concerts and exhibitions by those invited, which helped to communicate some of the cultural heritage of the countries represented.
On Saturday morning 21 May there was the presentation by the young people of what they had managed to do during the previous days , and the closing ceremony was marked by a special concert, with music prepared with the young people from the different countries. Special Guests were the members of the “Bloque 53” Band, containing musicians from Colombia, Venezuela and Spain. Present at the ceremony were various local authorities and representatives from the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Agriculture, and from the Embassy of Colombia in Poland.
The person from the Ministry of Education spoke about the innovative educational methods of the Salesian Centre for the Young in Różanystok, praising the efforts of the Salesians in fostering the maturing process and the social integration of the youngsters, in particular through their multi-cultural development.
“We want to emphasise the importance of our national traditions and to get to know the different cultures of others, including those from far away. Our main aim is to develop a knowledge of the culture, and through artistic projects integrate the young people of Podlasie – the region of Rozanystok – with young people from around the world” one of the organisers declared.
In spite of the language differences the young people were brought together by the arts, the music and their enthusiasm. Given the success of the previous event devoted to a knowledge of Africa, and after this second one, for the next year another “Festival of Youth without Frontiers” in being planned.
Published 26/05/2011
