Sharjah: The Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (SCRF) concluded its eighth edition on Saturday, with the event attracting 254,000 visitors over 11 days.
The figure represents an 18 per cent increase on the attendance figures for last year’s event. The region’s leading literary festival for young people, which ran from April 20-30 at Expo Centre Sharjah, featured a lineup of 1,518 events spanning reading activities, interactive workshops and entertainment shows, all of which had been formulated to develop children’s talents and enrich their knowledge.
This year’s SCRF, organised by Sharjah Book Authority (SBA), was held under the theme ‘Shine Out,’ with the event coinciding with the UAE’s ‘Year of Reading 2016’ initiative launched by President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
During his visit to the festival, His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, allocated Dh2.5 million to provide more books for children and young people at Sharjah’s public, school and university libraries.
Ahmad Bin Rakkad Al Ameri, Chairman of SBA, said; “The eighth edition of Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival was a success, as evidenced by its 18 per cent increase in the number of visitors compared with last year’s edition. Its high level of attendance over the 11 days is testament to its importance as a cultural platform that instils a love of reading in children and encourages them to view books as their friends and a source of great pleasure in their lives.”
Al Ameri added that the overwhelming response to the festival from children, families, teachers, school administrators and all stakeholders concerned with children’s reading, could only inspire SBA to continue to add new events and services in the coming years to meet the interests of younger visitors and keep pace with the spirit of the age. He said that the SBA would redouble its efforts to ensure that the festival remains a creative and educational environment for children in the UAE, as well as for visitors from fraternal countries.
Highlighting another first for the festival, Al Ameria added: “SCRF launched the world’s first virtual reality book at SCRF 2016, which enables the child to engage with its events and be influenced by its characters directly. We adopted the use of digital virtual technology in books with the aim of attracting children and encouraging them to read by taking advantage of their passion for technology and its latest developments.”
SCRF 2016 drew 130 publishers from 15 countries. The UAE topped the list with 55 publishing houses, followed by Lebanon with 25 and Egypt with 20. Canada, China, India and the United Kingdom were among the many other countries that had a significant presence at this year’s festival. Books in several languages were displayed, most notably Arabic, English, French, Hindi and Urdu.
