Bhubaneswar, Oct. 31: The much-awaited Anjali Children’s Festival, which goes international this year, starts from November 2 on the Adivasi Ground here.

The fun-filled fest will commence with a carnival to be flagged off from the Ram Mandir Square. Chief minister Naveen Patnaik will inaugurate the camp. “Anjali is a thought, a thought for an inclusive world for the otherwise able children. It aims at the holistic development of artistic skills. Our thrust area is shattering barriers, social or otherwise, between rural and urban, physically challenged, poor and rich children,” said Sruti Mohapatra, CEO and founder of Swabhiman that has been organising the festival since 2001.

Hectic preparations are under way at the venue where nearly a thousand kids — both differently-abled and otherwise — will get together for the ultimate camp experience. The highlight of the five-day fest will be a Toyland based on this year’s theme “Games and Imagination”.

The camp will also emphasise on promotion of outdoor sports.

“The Toyland will feature interactive games on a three-dimensional, textured surface so that special children with various impairments, be it visual, speech, hearing or developmental, can enjoy themselves and soak in the experience. We are also planning to revive traditional games,” said Shilpa, a student of BJB College and volunteer at the camp.

The fest is lined up with an array of fun and creative activities for the participants to explore their interests and hone their artistic skills. Besides music and dance programmes, there will be magic shows, children’s film festival, art exhibition, book fair and celebration of festivals such as Eid, Halloween, Diwali, and Rath Yatra.

Anjali will put the spotlight on artistes with disabilities and showcase their talent through a variety of cultural shows. While the Delhi-based troupe Ability International will present classical and contemporary dances, a Sri Lankan group will perform a fire dance.

The organisers said though around 50 children from 10 countries had signed up for the annual fest, only kids from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have confirmed their participants. For the first time, the annual fest will have a mascot — Happy – a giant yellow smiley.