The 14th edition of international children's theatre festival, 'JashneBachpan', was inaugurated here Saturday evening with folk dance performances from Assam, Rajasthan, Punjab, Manipur among other states.

Organised by the National School of Drama (NSD), the opening ceremony of the theatre festival saw "Udaan", an act comprising of four presentations by groups -- Thangata Pung Cholam (Manipur), Kalboliya (Rajasthan), Gotipua (Odisha) and Bhangra/folksong (Punjab).

Speaking at the event, Arun Goel, Secretary, Ministry of Culture, said that festivals like "JashneBachchan help children to develop their personality".

"Theatre is something which is not given to us by the colonial powers, rather it is our own art form which was born in our own land and has been practised since ages," Goel said.

The nine-day theatre festival will see performances from Switzerland, Sri Lanka and Indonesia along with their Indian counterparts here.

Abdul Latif Khatana, the chief of NSD's Theatre in Education Company, shared the highlight's of this year's edition.

"We have plays talking about various issues be it gender discrimination or parent-child relationship. We also have theatrical interpretation of Ramayana and Alice & Wonderland. This time we have three-year old play group to 133-year old play group," he said.

The drama school also invited about 800 underprivileged children from various NGOs across Delhi and NCR to "inculcate enthusiasm for art and culture along with entertainment at a global platform".

The theatrical extravaganza will see a total of 24 groups from various states such as Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Delhi, and West Bengal among others.

The plays will be performed in vernacular languages like Bengali, Marathi, Assamese, and Malayalam besides non-verbal, English, Hindi and other foreign languages.

The festival will come to a close on November 25.

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