Up to You(th) Festival returns

Time to celebrate and listen to youth! The Up to You(th) Festival, organised by the Youth Board of Cyprus, is making a strong comeback this September after a two-year interruption. On September 24 it will take over Acropolis Park in Nicosia with dozens of stalls and activities for all.

The 6th edition of the festival invites the public to a celebration of youth, powered by the youth, to state emphatically that the present and future are in the hands of the new generation, a generation that dares to dream and to hope for the better. From 5pm onwards the festival will run events, host information desks and touch on issues that youth faces today.

The NGO Fair will also return with the participation of 80 Civil Society Organisations providing the opportunity for young people to engage with and become actively involved in matters that affect them such as the environment, human rights, culture, volunteering and more.

The festival will also include a Tech Fair, exhibiting technologies developed by educational institutions and other organisations and inviting young people to participate in interactive applications of technology, including robot races and competitions, virtual reality and programming, while SiCo will perform science experiments open to participation from the public.

Additionally, young people will be given the opportunity to participate in the Human Library, where they can meet human-books who will narrate their stories and engage in an imaginative dialogue with the reader.

The programme also includes live music, graffiti art, screenings of short films by Cypriot filmmakers as well as impressive structures built by the Cyprus Scouts. The Cyprus Astronomy Organisation will take the festival programme above and beyond by allowing the public to discover the stars and planets in the sky, through their telescopes.

Further to these actions, the festival will encourage a spirit of exchange by asking the public to bring any books they no longer need and exchange them with others, through the Shared Library organised by the Pancyprian Organisation for the Promotion of Literacy. For young visitors, there will be a children’s area.

The festival coincides with the European Year of Youth and is part of the broader goal of the Youth Board of Cyprus to inspire the active participation and civic engagement of more and more young people.

Up to You(th) Festival

6^th edition. September 24. Acropolis Park, Nicosia. 5pm. Free. www.onek.org.cy