The Subotica International Festival of Children's Theatres is an international festival dedicated to children's theatre.
The festival is held annually in the third week of the month of May. It is of a competitive nature and festival awards are granted according to the evaluation of an international five-member jury. Both drama and puppet theatre productions are performed at the festival.
The official selection consists of twenty theatre performances in competition.
Besides official selections, the festival includes an accompanying programme encompassing street theatre, outdoor performances, festival performances throughout Serbia and in neighbouring Hungary, a film programme, scientific gatherings, exhibitions, puppetry workshops and publishing.
The festival was founded in 1994 by Subotica Municipal Assembly (Vojvodina Province, Serbia). The creator of the festival and its manager (director and selector) to the present has been Slobodan Markovic. Since 2006 he has been working together with Olivera Mudrinić, current Executive Director.
The festival is held under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia and the Provincial Department of Education and Culture. It is supported by the Municipality of Subotica and by numerous sponsors and donors. Executive producer of the festival is Subotica Open University.
The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia has proclaimed the festival as being of national significance, and for its accomplishments it has been awarded the greatest cultural acknowledgement in the Republic of Serbia – Vuk's Award.
The stated aims of the festival are to:
Theatre artists and theoreticians; children up to 18 years of age; childminders, parents, carers and practitioners; everyone interested in theatre for children and young people, puppet theatre, or in the art of theatre in general.
The following awards are made:
Each year the festival presents "Little Prince" Life Achievement Awards to individuals who have made exceptional contributions to the development of culture and theatre art for children.
Since its inception, the Festival has hosted more than 500 theatre productions from various parts of the world, including Europe and host country Serbia. About 400 have been presented in Official Selection, including: [1]
Australia
Austria
Brazil
Canada
China
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
India
Italy
Japan / Czech Republic
Japan
Norway
Peru / Great Britain
Poland
Russia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
United Kingdom
United States
The 7th Festival 2000
The 8th Festival 2001
The 9th Festival 2002
The 10th Festival 2003
The 11th Festival 2004
The 12th Festival 2005
The 13th Festival 2006
The 14th Festival 2007
The 15th Festival 2008
The 16th Festival 2009
The 17th Festival 2010
The 18th Festival 2011
The 19th Festival 2012
The 20th Festival 2013
The 21st Festival 2014
The 22nd Festival 2015
The 23rd Festival 2016
The 24th Festival 2017
"It has been written about BITEF ( Belgrade International Theatre Festival ) in a Polish Encyclopaedia that the repertoire of this international Festival actually represents history of the world theatre of the second half of the 20th century. The same can be said about Subotica International Festival of Children's Theaters. Its fourteen seasons at the same time represent history of the world puppet theatre for children." Jovan Ćirilov , Festival Council President
"As a scientist and critic involved in activities of children's theatres all around the world I will take this opportunity to point out that the International Festival of Children's Theatres from Subotica has gained respect in the whole world, thanks to high artistic ranges, excellent organization and establishing of a forum for exchange of experiences in spirit of amicable cooperation..." Professor Henryk Jurkowski
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