Everything you need to know about the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival

The event will host workshops and panel discussions, with more than 400 writers and industry leaders set to attend

The family-friendly event will be held at Expo Centre Sharjah. Photo: Sharjah Book Authority

The 14th Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival begins on Wednesday and ends on May 14.

It has an expansive programme for both children and adults that includes workshops, live demonstrations, talks, author meet and greets and plenty of books.

Here’s everything you need to know about the festival.

What is Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival?

Organised by the Sharjah Book Authority, it is an annual family-friendly festival aimed at fostering a love of reading for children of all ages.

The free festival was created under the guidance of Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Ruler of Sharjah, and his wife, Sheikha Jawaher.

The event's mission over the last 14 years has been to become the biggest children's book fair in the region. While the festival highlights the importance of reading and books, it also has many other elements to inspire children in all manners of storytelling. These include shows, plays, workshops, live cooking demonstrations and comic exhibitions.

The festival also welcomes school pupils and university students and has a volunteer programme to help foster and grow a community passionate about books and reading.

What is happening at this year's festival?

Under the theme of Train your Brain, the festival will have plenty of activities to inspire, entertain and educate children. These include workshops in sports, social media, crafts and musical activities led by 25 guest authors, illustrators and experts from 10 countries around the world.

One of the more exciting workshops this year is centred on Grand Prix racing, where children and adults will be able to build their own wooden cars and race them. Other workshops include animation, filmmaking, entrepreneurship and more.

There is also the Cookery Corner where 12 chefs from nine countries will take part in more than 30 culinary events.

And, of course, there will be plenty of books. From the latest releases to classics, 141 publishers who specialise in novels, comics, educational books and creative genres will be in attendance.

Who is coming to the event?

More than 400 guests from 66 countries will be attending this year. These include authors, illustrators, artists, viral social media acts, renowned chefs and more.

Some of those attending include children's authors Bijal Vachharajani, Sudha Murty and children’s author Humza Arshad; international bestselling author Shaw Kuzki; and chef and author Priyanka Naik.

The Masaka Kids Africana from Uganda, whose dance videos have gone viral, will be performing.

Content creators such as Emirati chef Faisal Al Khalidi, Emirati media personality Azza Al Mughairy and Wessam Qutob from Jordan will be present at the social media station to share their tips on the latest techniques for creating content.

There will also be a number of well-known speakers and experts on stage discussing issues that affect children today.

Panel discussions include The Importance of Developing Emotional Intelligence Skills at Young Age with Dr Maya Alhuwi from the UAE; Lorca Sbeity from Lebanon; and Dr Louise Lambert from Canada.

Another talk is The Link Between Artificial Intelligence, Education Curricula and Children's Books, with Dr Karima Matar Almazroui from the UAE; Egyptian author Amal Farah; and author Ross Welford from the UK.

When and where will it take place?

The event runs until May 14 at the Expo Centre Sharjah.

It will be open to visitors from 4pm to 8pm on Wednesday and on weekdays from 9am to 8pm. On Fridays, the festival will run from 4pm to 9pm, while on Saturday and Sunday, it will run from 9am to 9pm.

More information is available at www.scrf.ae