TEHRAN-The 25th International Storytelling Festival wrapped up on December 21 in Yazd by awarding the winners in different sections. 

In the International section of the festival, the top prize went to the Indian storyteller Zainab Fatima, IBNA reported on Saturday.

In the Traditional and Rituals section, Alireza Motaghi from Markazi Province and Hossein Kazemi from Mazandaran Province received the main awards in the Teenage and Adult categories respectively.

Mahya Kamalian from Yazd Province and Zahra Akbarinejad from Lorestan Province were the winners of the Classical and Modern section in the Teenage and Adult categories respectively.

The special General Soleimani award, presented for the first time, went to Simin Mohammadalipour from East Azarbaijan Province.

Zohreh Bagheri from Alborz Province was the recipient of the special award of the Smile category, also presented for the first time at the festival.

Organized by the Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults, the four-day festival was held under the theme “Let's Make a Smile with a Story”. Some 17,000 storytellers from across the world were submitted to the festival. 

The festival’s international jury included judges from Turkey, South Africa, Argentina, India, Scotland, Kenya, England, Malaysia, Uganda, Tanzania, Lesotho, Lebanon, and France.

The festival aims to encourage families to revert to the authentic nature of storytelling for educational purposes. 

It also serves as a platform for different educational activities, providing support to a variety of content forms that are founded on storytelling.

Storytelling has been utilized as a tool for the education and guidance of mankind by divinity, and Iran is harnessing its potential for empowering and educating children and young people.

SS/SAB