Students showcase a science project at Sargi Fula in Bhubaneswar on Friday. Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, Dec. 27: Adivasi ground turned into a playground for creative children this morning.

Organised by the state ST and SC development department, the fourth edition of Sargi Fula, a state-level tribal children’s festival that promises to provide young guns of the state a platform to showcase their skills, commenced today.

About 750 schoolchildren and 150-odd teachers, who are acting as resource persons and mentors, are taking part in the festival. The participating boys and girls from ashram schools, sevashrams, residential sevashrams, SC/ST development department high schools and Ekalavya modern residential schools have come from remote corners of the 30 districts of the state.

Much like the last edition, the children will be seen contesting in an array of recreational and artistic activities such as dance, music, theatre, paper crafts, clay modelling, essay writing, puppetry, magic, best-out-of-waste, photography, child reporting, painting and science exhibition.

Workshops imparting lessons in some art or craft are being conducted in 18 different themes with sessions being organised in six different clusters. The competitions are taking place in 10 different segments.

“Puppetry has always interested me and I have enrolled myself in the puppetry workshop,” said Jagan Majhi, a 13-year-old student.

“Last year, many of my students participated in the festival and won laurels. The best thing the festival does is providing an ambience where the kids feel free to learn. They pick up new things that often transform into hobbies,” said Swarnaprava, the teacher of a primary school in Khurda.

A section has been allotted for a science exhibition where the kids have displayed their science projects, most of them miniature models on use of renewable energy to generate electricity. Kids from 12 coastal districts were taken to Regional Museum of Natural History and Pathani Samanta Planetarium. The remaining kids from 18 other districts were taken to Nandankanan zoo and Raja-Rani temple this afternoon.

The festival was conceptualised with an aim to develop the personality of the pupils by engaging them in creative activities and identifying their hidden talents.

“It is very important to bring tribal kids into the mainstream. We need to tap their potential and such festivals will come handy in doing that,” said Sanjeeb Kumar Mishra, secretary of the department. Many volunteer groups have been roped in to facilitate the various events.