File picture of a Kathak performance by differently-able children at the Anjali fest.

Bhubaneswar, Oct. 27: Preparations are on in full swing for the Anjali National Children’s Festival scheduled to take place here from November 11 to 14.

Around 1,000 children from across the country are expected to take part in the festival that is in its 13th edition this year.

A series of workshops, competitions, cultural programmes, musical performances and exhibitions will be organised during the four days of the festival.

More than 100 students from various educational institutions of the city are volunteering at the festival.

“We have conducted a few orientation meetings for the volunteers where they have been briefed about their duties. The volunteers have been divided into groups and their tasks have been distributed,” said Asit Kumar Behera, co-ordinator of the event.

Children belonging to various districts of Odisha and 15 states of the country will come together to explore their creativity at the festival. An international team from Nepal will also join the camp.

On the inaugural day of the festival, a carnival will be flagged off from the Ram Mandir Square that will culminate on Adivasi Ground.

Children and youths dressed in bright costumes will take part in the procession. Folk artistes and cultural personalities will also be a part of the carnival.

The festival that is based on a theme every year, will focus on brotherhood and solidarity this time.

“At a time when communal violence is rampant, it is extremely significant to invoke in the minds of the children the importance of unity and peace,” said disability rights’ activist and chief co-ordinator of the festival Sruti Mohapatra.

This year, workshops will be conducted on magic, first aid, creative dance, modern dance, music, paper quelling, cartooning, terracotta and ventriloquism. On the concluding day of the festival, the workshops outputs will be exhibited and staged.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik and governor S.C. Jamir have been invited to the festival. Actors, social activists, sportspersons and administrators have also been invited to interact with the children.

The festival began in 2001 in an attempt to provide a platform to the differently-abled children to showcase their talents and skills.