For the attention of groups interested in taking part in the Handcrafts School project

Dear friends,

This year, our local newspapers and TV channels are going to dedicate more time and space to our Festival, to promote both the entertainment and the social/educational aspects of our programmes.

Our theme is cultural exchange, but you cannot have exchange without meeting up, working together, friendship and understanding between the interested parties. So, each group needs to provide as much detailed, high quality promotional material and information as possible.

We would like to tell about this year’s themes which will be at the centre of our Festival to help you in your preparations and your choice of subject matter for your performances and displays.



1 - The Year of the Pole:

the aim is to focus the world’s attention on the subject of climate change, which caused by our disregard for the pollution of the planet. On 28.02.2009 in Piacenza (in Piazza Cavalli), we are going to organise an exhibition to mark the end of the Year of the Poles to raise awareness of the problem.

This will take the form of an art exhibition by the Mengo group who are members of the Koriaki people who live in the region in the north of Kamchatka (Siberia). We are therefore asking all of you to start saving energy and to do something to reduce pollution..

We would very much like to be able to include in the exhibition some of your work on this theme, such as photographs and other works of art, short films, surveys and any other relevant material.



2 - Handcraft Competitions:

so far we have received a lot of enrolments for our new handcrafts project. We hope not only to share experiences within the handcrafts sector, but also to introduce youngsters to manual and artistic crafts which have fallen into disuse due to the indiscriminate use of computer technology.

At the end of the summer, we will set up an exhibition of all the items of handcrafts produced and donated by the various crafts people. For further information, go to our website: www.vivasworld.org and click on the link: handcraft competition..



3 - As regards the presentation of your group, it would be very useful if you could send us the material either by post to:
Associazione OK Club, via Rapallo, 2D – 43100 Parma (PR) Italy, or by email to: sts-gestione @libero.it. You should include the following items:

a) The address of your website, where we can find out about the background and the special interests of your group. The websites of your town and region, as appropriate. It would be most helpful if the sites were in English.

b) Highlight your reasons for wishing to take part in our Festival and also, if applicable, the reasons of those who have helped you: sponsors, your school, your local authority, for example.

c) Let us know if there are any commercial interests to promote following your trip to Italy and if there any groups of adults interested in visiting Italy.

d) Let us know if there are any special Italian products that you would like to buy during your visit. We might be able to help you find suppliers and negotiate discounted prices.

Please find attached a list of groups taking part in the 2008 International Youth Festival, divided up according to the dates of their visit.

Best regards

Carlo Devoti  Master of Sport