The doors of Governor House opened doors last Saturday morning to welcome excited crowds of young civilians to celebrate a weekend of fun with colours, poetry, theatre performances and more. I walk in at the festival on a sunny afternoon, the Karachi heat refusing to be kind. In the vast gardens of the Sindh Governor House, tables and floor seating seems like a good setup for a children’s festival. Needless to say, the chatter and squeals from the target attendees sets the mood of the weekend. The ‘bottle cloud’ made with reused plastic bottles brought to life an interesting aesthetic but more importantly, articulating the need and various ways single use plastic bottles can be refashioned-executed by Open Door Design Studio.

The idea of the festival is to educate children and engage them in various arts and plays, the basic exposure a child needs outside the academic curriculum. Artists, educationists, dramatists, writers and architects made their contributions to inculcate the need to expand their creative skills with the irrelevant contributions. Activities planned to cater to children included yoga, 3D activities, arts and craft, puppet show, storytelling, DIY activities including recycling and awareness programs to instill eco-friendly habits in young minds by small environmentally-friendly business TrashIt. Festivals for families has become a trend that is increasingly gaining momentum in metropolitans across the country and are said to help children engage in interactive and creatively designed activities so as to raise awareness and motivation, paving way for their engagement with the city.