The International festival of high school theatre JUVENTAFEST began in 2013 with the goal of providing a high-quality cultural content for the young audience.
During its ten years of existence, JUVENTAFEST has hosted over 3000 participants from 15 countries and this number is constantly rising. Over 50 volunteers, mostly high school and college students or young professionals, assist with the organization. During the 5 days of the Festival, participants have many opportunities to meet each other and learn about different types of theatre. They also take part in workshops held by experts in movement, dance, music, mask, and puppetry.
JUVENTAFEST hosted plays created within theatres, informal groups and drama clubs from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Sweden, Russia, Norway, Hungary, Romania and Czech Republic. All young theatre lovers from all around the world are welcome to apply to participate in the festival. The only condition is that all performers must be high school students.
From the fifth edition, JUVENTAFEST started a unique workshop for teachers who are leading high school drama clubs. As part of this workshop, the leaders of drama groups and high school clubs have the opportunity to expand their knowledge of drama and stage pedagogy, stage art as a media, and elements, techniques and systems of stage expression.
JUVENTAFEST provides an excellent overview of high school theatre production in the region, while at the same time cultivates a new theatre audience, connects young people interested in theatre, and offers them an opportunity to learn and flourish through play and work.
From 2019 JUVENTAFEST is a part of the Inclusion Movement, and on that occasion we included young people with Down syndrome in our workshops.
From 2021 JUVENTAFEST is a signatory of the Platform for Peace, considering that all our activities advocate peace in all its forms.