The Idea behind the Festival
 
The International Festival of Theatres for Children and Young People is a presentation of professional and school theatres from Poland and different parts of the world, a place where people of Art meet with children and young people. All the activities, meetings and events are prepared for children, young people and teachers, and their purpose is spreading artistic education among the young generation of Poles as well as popularising the educational function of the Theatre.
 The Festival is held in honour of Janusz Korczak (1878-1942) – an outstanding Polish educator with enormous moral authority, who devoted his life and work to children. The moral strength of Janusz Korczak resonates across the society and artistic circles in Poland and all over the world. His ideas integrate adults in creating art for children and young people.
 Following Korczak’s ideals, the organizers of the Festival choose performances that deal with problems relevant to the child, support the fight for children’s rights, raise issues difficult for the child and discuss moral dilemmas.
 During the Festival the most interesting children’s theatre groups have a chance to perform on stage, together with professional theatres. Their personal expression during these ”artistic festivities” widens and enriches the artists’ way of thinking about plays for children and about their influence on the young audience. Each of ten editions of the Festival (in 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006) became an important event in the field of children’s theatre on the international scale.
For the seventh time in its history the Festival serves as the opening ceremony of the Year of Culture in Education. It is so because theatre symbolises these human values that only when combined with learning and knowledge result in educating a truly full-fledged person. The objective of the celebration is to draw the schools and educational authorities’ attention to the significance of theatre education.

The Aims of the Festival:

• to celebrate the opening of the Year of Culture in Education 
• to present Mazovia region and Warsaw as the Capital of Poland pen to the ideals of Korczak, children-friendly city, encouraging the development of art for the young audience,
• to promote ideas which are of great importance in the development of the young generation in the times of European integration,
• to elevate the standard of theatre productions for young audiences, and to award theatres for high standards of theatre productions for children and young people,
• to promote the Polish theatre and plays for children and young people in the world,
• to present the achievements of school theatre groups, to promote the active participation of children and young people in the Art - a proper way of self-fulfilment, as opposed to aggression and violence,
• to disseminate the playwriting by children and young people.