Bhubaneswar, Nov. 14: The stretch from Master Canteen to Sishu Bhavan turned into a work of art this afternoon as kids from all across country organised a carnival to mark the beginning of the 15th Anjali National Children's Festival 2016.

Students from Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Manipur, Tripura, Bengal, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, dressed in colourful outfits, walked in a rally and reached the venue for the event, Adivasi Exhibition Grounds.

This year, the event is themed on "Celebrating Childhood". A host of events are lined up for the next five days and three teams from countries, including Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan, 12 teams from other states and 38 state teams will take part.

"I look forward to the festival every year. This year, it is more exciting than before. I was very happy to see children from across the state in interesting costumes. I felt was I was in a fairyland," said Ranjita Biswal, a differently abled child.

"An attractive feature this year is the disability art festival Swayam, in which differently abled artists performed live. Two new workshops - Pantomime (a theatre performance for children) and a 3D model of smart city - will be conducted keeping children's perspective in mind," said the festival's chief co-ordinator Sruti Mohapatra.

The event will have four festivals - Karthik Purnima, Holi, Eid and Christmas.

City schools, including the Mothers Public School, Sai International, KIIT International, Doon International, DAV Pokhriput, DAV Unit VII, St Xavier Satyanagar, St Xaviers Khandagiri, KISS, Guidance English Schools, Hariharananda Balashram, 30 government schools and many NGOs and institutions, will take part in the festival.This apart, children from Open Learning School, Bipin Bihari Chaudhary school for the Deaf, Ramadevi Sishu Vihar and many other special schools will also take part.

A bioscope on the festival will be held from November 16 to 18 at Bhanja Kala Mandap.