The 14th edition of the International Children’s Theater Festival “Bitolino,” themed “Theater Changes the World,” will take place from August 3 to 7 at the NU Center for Culture in Bitola. The festival will feature ten performances on two stages at the Center for Culture.

Six plays from Georgia, Hungary, Croatia, Bulgaria, Albania, and Macedonia will compete for the festival’s Grand Prix for best play overall. The festival aims to educate future generations in empathy, understanding, and a love for art.

The program includes national institutions from Georgia and Albania, “Nodar Dumbadze” and “Piro Qeci” theaters, respectively. Also featured are independent productions “Kolibri” from Hungary and “Mala Scena” from Croatia, known as leading children’s theaters in their countries.

The “Sendju” Puppet Theater from Bulgaria will present Japanese puppet theater using the Takeda method, and the “Shadows and Clouds” Theater from Skopje will participate in “Bitolino” for the first time.

In a move to support amateur theater, “Bitolino” will host Theater Chekori from Skopje and the Theater at the YOU House of Culture “Ivan Mazov – Klime” from Kavadarci. The “Babec” Theater School will open and close the festival with the plays “Words” and “Audition.” Babec Theater will also celebrate its 15th anniversary with the premiere of the youth production “Audition.”

A two-day theater workshop on puppet theater, “The World of Puppets,” will be led by Bulgarian director and actress Efimia Pavlova. Pavlova, director of the State Puppet Theater in Sliven, Bulgaria, will also serve as the president of the festival jury. Macedonian actors Toni Naumovski and Martina Taparchevska will also be members of the jury.

The festival is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Macedonia, the Municipality of Bitola, and Komercijalna banka AD Skopje.