On Sunday, September 20, at the Children's Theater in Subotica, the twenty-seventh edition of the International Children's Theater Festival was opened with a solemn ceremony. This year's festival edition lasts until September 24 and is held at several locations in Subotica. The main program includes 11 performances by ensembles from China, Russia, Israel, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, and Serbia.

The mayor of Subotica, Stevan Bakić, addressed the festival audience at the opening ceremony, emphasizing the continuity of the festival even during the coronary virus pandemic: "Art is especially important when humanity is faced with such difficult temptations." It comforts, encourages, and inspires us to persevere in the fight against all problems. "Theater art for children, as a great workshop of imagination and play, is especially valuable because it is aimed at generations that will inherit a different world, whose renewal and design will require a lot of creativity," said Bakić and concluded: "The backbone of this year's program will be children's theaters from Serbia, which will be an opportunity to strengthen domestic artistic ties and revive the domestic theater scene for children.”

Dragana Milošević, the provincial secretary for culture, public information, and relations with religious communities, pointed out that it is very easy to be in her position, considering that Subotica is currently one of the leading cultural centers in the country. "The greatest joy is to create for children. They give us back that primordial childhood in us, to be imaginative enough even though we are adults. And we in turn have to take care of them. Children suffered the most during this entire pandemic. Perhaps they experienced it the most, in the absence of what constitutes childhood. I am proud that today we have the opportunity to enable that childhood, to continue to enjoy these wonderful performances that were made exclusively for them. "

The director of the festival and the selector of the main program, Zoran Đerić, presented the Little Prince award to this year's laureate Vladimir Andrić, who, upon receiving the great recognition, referred to his professional beginnings: I was a student of directing when Duško Radović nailed it all," persuaded" me to direct the first drama aimed for children and young people, when I was 20 years old. And after that, the first series, which was a puppet show ". Summarizing his career, Andrić added: "I was lucky to do what my craft is, and what is more than a hobby for me - my only real fun. I have received several awards, but this one stands out because I am one of the admirers of Antoine de Saint Exupery, the father of the Little Prince ”.

This year, for the first time, the festival awarded the Posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award dedicated to creativity for children, actor, and director Zoran Lozančić, and the award was received on his behalf by Milica Radulović, director of the Niš Puppet Theater, who thanked and added: "I believe Zoran is watching us from above, waves and thanks ”.

The program of the ceremony featured the Children's Choir "Emanuil" from Subotica led by conductor Anastasia Stokin, the youngest folklore group OKUD "Mladost" from Subotica, and Arsa from Mars. The foreign laureate of the Little Prince Award is Bulgarian director Slavcho Malenov.

On the first day of the festival, an exhibition dedicated to Vladimir Andrić, the winner of the Little Prince award, was opened in the Children's Theater lobby in Subotica. Ilija Tatic, director of the Open University of Subotica and executive producer of the festival, said on that occasion: "I thank RTS, for helping us to find and show this material." There are excerpts from the famous series for children "Forest Tangles", photos from the rich work of Vladimir Andrić. It was extremely difficult to collect the material, and I thank Mr. Andrić who helped us find as many of them as possible. "