Theater festival embraces youth input

What is important is to establish the platform first, to bring diverse theater productions to the city of Xichang and to bring more viewers into theaters.

Pu says: "I saw that most of the theatergoers in European festivals are elderly, but in China, theater audiences are relatively young. We need to bring more young people into the theater, not only to appreciate plays but also Chinese operas."

At the festival's grand ceremony on Nov 23, Pu performed with local children to showcase Yi culture.

Tobias Biancone, director-general of the International Theatre Institute, a global organization for the performing arts, says his eyes welled up with tears when he saw the children singing and dancing onstage with delight and dedication.

The gala performance illustrated to him young people's love for theater. He believes theater professionals need to ignite the fire of their passion.

"I think it's very important if you want to reach young people to, first of all, include them in your thinking. How do you want to do a festival? How you want to present your work? And choose the approach which works best," says Biancone, a poet and writer from Switzerland, who is also a festival organizer himself.

"What will help this region most is art education."