International Festival of Children's Theatres
The Subotica International Festival of Children's Theatres is an international festival dedicated to children's theatre. The festival. The festival is held annually in the third week of the month of May. It is of a competitive nature and festival awards are granted according to the evaluation of an international five-member jury. Both drama and puppet theatre productions are performed at the festival. The official selection consists of twenty theatre performances in competition. Besides official selections, the festival includes an accompanying programme encompassing street theatre, outdoor performances, festival performances throughout Serbia and  in neighbouring Hungary, a film programme, scientific gatherings, exhibitions, puppetry workshops and publishing. History. The festival was founded in 1994 by Subotica Municipal Assembly (Vojvodina Province, Serbia). The creator of the festival and its manager (director and selector) to the present has been Slobodan Markovic. Since 2006 he has been working together with Olivera Mudrinić, current Executive Director. The festival is held under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia and the Provincial Department of Education and Culture. It is supported by the Municipality of Subotica and by numerous sponsors and donors. Executive producer of  the festival is Subotica Open University. The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia has proclaimed the festival as being of national significance, and for its accomplishments it has been awarded the greatest cultural acknowledgement in the Republic of Serbia – Vuk's Award. Aims. The stated aims of the festival are to: Target audience. Theatre artists and theoreticians; children up to 18 years of age; childminders, parents, carers and practitioners; everyone interested in theatre for children and young people, puppet theatre, or in the art of theatre in general. Festival awards. The following awards are made: Each year the  festival presents "Little Prince" Life Achievement Awards to individuals who have made exceptional contributions to the development of culture and theatre art for children. Participants. Since its inception, the Festival has hosted more than 500 theatre productions from various parts of the world, including Europe and host country Serbia. About 400 have been presented in Official Selection, including: Albania Armenia Australia Austria Belarus Bosnia and Herzegovina Brazil Bulgaria Canada Chile China Colombia Croatia Czech Republic Egypt Estonia Finland France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary India Iran Israel Italy Japan / Czech Republic Japan Kazakhstan Latvia Lithuania Republic of Macedonia Mexico Moldova Montenegro  Norway Peru / Great Britain Poland Romania Russia Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom United States Awards made. Section::::"Little Prince" Lifetime Achievement Award. The 7th Festival 2000 The 8th Festival 2001 The 9th Festival 2002 The 10th Festival 2003 The 11th Festival 2004 The 12th Festival 2005 The 13th Festival 2006 The 14th Festival 2007 The 15th Festival 2008 The 16th Festival 2009 The 17th Festival 2010 The 18th Festival 2011 The 19th Festival 2012 The 20th Festival 2013 The 21st Festival 2014 The 22nd Festival 2015 The 23rd Festival 2016 The 24th Festival 2017 Quotes. "It  has been written about BITEF (Belgrade International Theatre Festival) in a Polish Encyclopaedia that the repertoire of this international Festival actually represents history of the world theatre of the second half of the 20th century. The same can be said about Subotica International Festival of Children's Theaters. Its fourteen seasons at the same time represent history of the world puppet theatre for children." Jovan Ćirilov, Festival Council President "As a scientist and critic involved in activities of children's theatres all around the world I will take this opportunity to point out that the International Festival of Children's  Theatres from Subotica has gained respect in the whole world, thanks to high artistic ranges, excellent organization and establishing of a forum for exchange of experiences in spirit of amicable cooperation..." Professor