Hakawy International Arts Festival for Children, which filled the Hanager Arts Centre with theatre performances tailored for the youngest audience, closed on 18 March.

"Children have the right to attend the town's artistic and cultural institutions, both with family and school, in order to discover and experience what the area offers them," is one of the eighteen principles enumerated in the Charter of Children's Rights for Arts and Culture, created by the European Network for the Diffusion of Performing Arts for Early Childhood.

This motto was also used in the promotional material of the Hakawy festival, a fascinating one-week event for children in Cairo. Spanning between 12 and 18 March, and in its fourth year, this year, the festival brought theatre performances from the US, UK, France, Netherlands, Germany and Egypt.

Photos: Bassam El-Zoghby and Ati Metwaly