A festival of stories

Here's what's in store at the Kahani Karnival to be held in association with The Hindu Young World Club...

Bringing alive Vikram Seth's Beastly Tales with puppets, narrating a selection of Karadi Tales through classical dance, and a workshop that helps you spot trees and plants and create a nature journal are some of the highlights of the first edition of the upcoming Kahani Karnival, festival of stories for children that will be held at TERI, Domlur, Bengaluru on December 3, 2016.

Kahani Karnival, which began its journey three years ago in Mumbai has hosted over seven festivals, numerous school outreach programmes and even a session with Grammy nominated artist Diane Ferlatte. This is the first time the festival is moving out from home turf and visiting the garden city for a day-long event, which will pack in over 15 sessions for children, ages 2-12, and their families. There will be storytelling sessions, dance performances, author interactions, puppet sessions and illustration workshops.

The festival will have a mix of workshops and performances across different zones at TERI. Naturalist and artist Sangeetha Kadur will take the children on a walk through the lawns and show them how every seed, leaf and feather has a story – along with this she will get them to doodle, take notes and craft a nature journal. Bestselling author Roopa Pai will share the Gita's wisdom with the children and author Arundhati Venkatesh will introduce the children to Koobandhee, a monster with a terrible digestive system! Theatre person and storyteller Vikram Sridhar of Tahatto will host a few sessions that combine theatre games and storytelling.

Kahani Karnival will also be bringing a few performers from Mumbai, including puppet maker and theatre educator Shaizia Jafri Manekshaw and Odissi danseuse Dr. Prachi Jariwala. Manekshaw will host two sessions: one, a puppet driven piece around Beastly Tales and the other, a theatrical exercise exploring language and the idea of diversity. Jariwala will be doing short narrative pieces through the day including poet Rumi's evocative story What Shape is an Elephant; she will also perform a dance drama that brings to life three mythological characters.

The final act of the festival is a theatre performance by Kirtana Kumar's Theatre Lab comprising young students. The drama will offer glimpses into extracts of literature, like Kipling's Law of the Jungle, Roald Dahl's George's Marvellous Medicine, from across the world. The performance will include prose, poetry, monologues and mime.

Kahani Karnival Festival is run by a Trust of five working mothers who wanted to spread the joy of reading among children. The trust was formed in early 2013. In keeping with its core philosophy of reading, there will be a vibrant books pavilion and author signing sessions through the day.

Registration is compulsory! To register, visit www.mycity4kids.com/kahanikarnival

Click on 'PDF DOWNLOAD' to get your copy of the schedule!

The event is being held in association with The Hindu Young World Club.