All About Sharjah Children's Reading Festival

A fun event to attend with your children where their creativity and imagination will be unleashed is the Sharjah Children's Reading Festival, which will run from May 3rd until May 14th at the Sharjah Expo Centre.

What is Sharjah Children's Reading Festival?

The event welcomes children to explore the wonderful world of children's fiction and reading as well as various creative skills. The festival is also open to adults and professionals who aspire to work with (or already do so ) children's fiction, animated films and series, anime, and much more. 

The festival is organized each year under the patronage of the Ruler of Sharjah His Highness Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi and the patronage of his wife Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi. Sheikha Jawaher is the Chairman of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs in Sharjah. 

Everything that is Happening at the Sharjah Children's Reading Festival:

Sharjah Children's Book Illustration Exhibition

The Sharjah Children's Book Illustration Exhibition This exhibition will feature a collection of illustrations from regional and international artists for the festival's visitors. The participants will compete to win the exhibition's annual awards, which will include three winners and three honourable mentions. 

Sharjah Animation Conference #SAF23

The conference is the first of its kind and will feature animation artists, designers, and other professionals from the industry who have created some very famous works. John Nevarez who was the animation artist behind Coco will be hosting a workshop and a masterclass. Other famous names include Sandro Cleuzo who designed animations for Marry Poppins 2 and Takahiro Yoshimatsu who is the mastermind behind Dragon Ball Z. The conference will feature many workshops, masterclasses, and panel discussions, which will provide visitors with an insight into the working of the animation industry.

Cookery Corner Programme

Image source: SCRF website.

The cookery corner will feature some of the top chefs including Anto Cocagne, Ashia Ismael, Priyanka Naik and many others. These chefs will not only provide some tips and tricks for the kitchen but visitors will also get a chance to sample some delicious treats from a variety of cuisines including African, Portuguese, Mediterranean, Indian, Korean, and much more.

Social Media Station

If you are a content creator or influencer or you are aspiring to be one, then you have to visit the Social Media Station where you will find experts discussing content creation, content marketing, social media engagement, and much more. Some experts that will host some sessions and workshops on these topics include Bahaa Al-Ahmed and Taline. 

Comic Corner

The comic corner will feature fun activities and shows including Artist Community, Cartoon Rock Band, Test For Ninjas, and much more. The corner will also have some workshops for young budding artists such as Comic Book Poetry, Comics-Inspired Bookmark Art, The Power of Your Voice, and Cosplay. 

Fun and Creative Activities

Image source: SCRF website.

The festival will feature workshops on glass painting, barjeel painting, Italian stained glass art, stained glass lantern, and other cool workshops. Visitors will also get a chance to witness some crazy experiments in the Science Lab. 

Plays

Image source: @sharjahbookauthority Instagram page. 

The festival will host two plays called 'Akbar the Great Nahi Rahe' and 'Alone at Home', which are the perfect shows to end your visit with at the festival.

'Akbar the Great Nahi Rahe' is a wonderful fusion of Indian and English culture, which will leave you laughing your socks off. The play will be held on May 7th from 4:00-5:30 p.m.

'Alone at Home' is a thrilling and funny production of everyone's favourite childhood movie 'Home Alone', which will run from 12th to 14th May. 

Main image source: SCRF website.