TEHRAN- The 25th International Storytelling Festival is set to take place in the central Iranian city of Yazd, hosting storytellers from Iran and other countries. 

Organized by the Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults – Kanoon, the festival will be held from December 18 to 21 under the theme "Let's Make a Smile with a Story", IRNA reported on Tuesday. 

The festival will feature various sections including classical and modern storytelling, traditional rituals, sign language storytelling, 90-second stories, and international storytelling, the report added. 

Moreover, four new sections titled "Stories of General Soleimani, "Smile," "Children of Gaza," and "Police" have been added to this edition of the festival.

Some 17,000 storytellers from across the world have been submitted to the festival so far. 

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

Back in September, Farhad Falah, the director of the festival stated that this year's festival will focus on new approaches and special awards, particularly emphasizing the use of humor and comedy in storytelling. 

Although "Let's Make a Smile with a Story" is the motto for this year's festival, the slogan embodies storytelling's wisdom as well, he noted.

While the utilization of humor and comedy in storytelling is an essential element of this year's festival, the core principle is the creation of a new outlook that produces a smile amidst wisdom through storytelling, he explained. 

He also acknowledged Iran's significant role as one of the leading countries in storytelling on the global stage as he stated that it places great responsibility on the organizers to ensure that the festival is impeccably organized. 

The organizers will exert their utmost effort to make sure it is held in the best possible manner, he said. 

He also underlined the significance of storytelling as a vital tool for education and the development of children and young people, which will be a definite focus of this year's festival. 

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

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

The narrative foundations of storytelling are present in several forms of production, including animations and films, he said and added: “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.”

SAB/