I Am Karachi Youth Festival kicks off on March 1

Karachi
The ‘I Am Karachi Youth Festival’ will be held from March 1 to March 7 at the Arts Council, announced the council’s secretary, Ahmed Shah, in a press conference on Thursday.
More than 15,000 young people are expected to participate in the event, which is being organised by the Arts Council and civil society organisations, with competitions in seven different categories.
Like last year, this year’s festival is also dedicated to the civil society’s ‘I Am Karachi’ peace campaign.
‘I Am Karachi’ consortium member Zain Ahmed said: “The ‘I Am Karachi’ initiative is aimed at inculcating hope, pride and ownership among the citizens to jointly struggle for a peaceful city.”
He said the campaign was a civil society initiative to spread peace in the city by enhancing public awareness and advocacy, reclaiming public spaces and making civil society more closely knit.
Youth Festival Director Dr Fauzia Khan said they had been encouraged by the success of the festival held last year.
The seven different categories of competitions will feature music, theatre, photography, English and Urdu speeches and essay writing.
Shah said once Karachi was a city of lights and a haven of peace but today the peace of the city had been jeopardised in the name of ethnicity, race, religion and sect.
“We are striving to engage the youth in positive activities and make them the ambassadors of peace because this is a fight against hatred, intolerance and ignorance.”
Registration for the festival will be open from January 23 (today) to February 18, following which workshops would be held for the registered candidates to polish their skills.