There are many types of festivals: music festivals, movie festivals, meat or beer festivals are only a few examples. But recently, Serbia met a new kind of festival: the Festival of Tolerance. Confused? We explain: three cities in the Southern and Eastern Serbia hosted during three different days (the 30th of September in Bor, the 8th of October in Bujanovac and the 9th in Leskovac) the Travelling Festival of Tolerance, an event promoted by the Resource Centre Leskovac (RCLe), the Community Resource Centre Bujanovac (CRC) and the Resource Centre Bor (RCB).
But the doubt still remains: what is a festival of tolerance? There are different possible answers. But the most important should be that it is more than a regular festival. This event was created to promote ideas: the importance of intercultural dialogue, of tolerance among people, of respect for the difference and of the awareness of the how valuable diversity can be. One festival to celebrate life, youth, diversity and peace. Motto? “Diversity is the spice of life”.
This festival was created as part of a project funded by the Delegation of European Union in Serbia called “Reaching Diversity – Promotion of Intercultural Dialogue, Tolerance and Understanding in Southern and Eastern Serbia”, was coordinated by RCLe and involved 12 volunteers from nine different countries from Europe (Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Romania, Georgia and Azerbaijan).
Part of the festivals’ programme in the three different cities was dedicated to present the different countries of the volunteers, such as in matter of official information, customs, history, fascinating facts but also food. So, different people – locals or not - had the opportunity to get information that they couldn't otherwise have reached and also taste the flavours of the different countries and cultures. The rest of the programme included a photography exhibition, flashmob, traditional games and dances, workshops, theatre performances and concerts.
It's clear that this festival is not going to change the world, but on a local level, it has improved tolerance between people from different backgrounds and cultures. We are sure that these friendships within such a diverse group of young people are going to last and probably that is the best contribution to the promotion of tolerance.
Pedro F. Guerreiro
Volunteer of Resource Centre Leskovac from Portugal