On August 30, the 15th China Children's Drama Festival Beijing Main Venue successfully concluded with the performance of the multimedia stage play "Hi! Little Stone Lion" by the China Welfare Institute Children's Art Theatre.

It is reported that the 15th China Children's Drama Festival, jointly hosted by the China National Theatre for Children, the Dongcheng District Committee and Government of Beijing, and the Xiuzhou District Government of Jiaxing, is themed "Lighting Up Children's Hearts and Showcasing Great Plays". It brings together 25 drama groups from 4 countries, 39 high-quality plays, and 181 performances. Through multi-province and city joint organization of the festival, online and offline integration, and performance and broadcasting, it benefits a wide range of children and teenagers, allowing the joy of drama to permeate children's summer life.

This year's festival brings together a diverse range of outstanding children's plays from both domestic and international sources, showcasing the major achievements and new trends in children's theater creation in recent years. The fairytale musical *The Nightingale* offers an innovative interpretation of Hans Christian Andersen's classic fairytale from an Eastern aesthetic perspective; plays such as *Little Dongdong's Fantastic Journey* and *Neptune's Spaceship* delve into the daily growth of ordinary children, exploring the significance of parent-child companionship through warm and delicate storylines; plays like *The Enchanting Sanxingdui* and *Tang Niu Arrives* break away from traditional narrative patterns, cleverly combining cultural relics and archaeology with stage art, transforming millennia-old artifacts into vibrant stage characters beloved by children, realizing the aesthetic value of "bringing cultural relics to life"; and plays such as *The Investiture of the Gods: Jiang Ziya* and *Havoc in Heaven* offer unique viewing experiences through physical theatre and puppetry.

In addition to in-person performances, this year's drama festival also features online screenings of outstanding plays. To celebrate the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China and commemorate the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Long March of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, this year's festival has selected four mainstream children's dramas—"The Xin'an Traveling Troupe," "The Newsboy," "Stars in the Firelight," and "The Undeliverable Intelligence"—for online screenings. These plays, based on revolutionary themes, tell revolutionary history, guiding children to remember the glorious years, cherish the memory of revolutionary predecessors, cultivate patriotism through artistic edification, and establish a sense of national responsibility.

During the drama festival, the China National Theatre for Children simultaneously launched the "100+ Excellent Plays 2026 Summer Tour" event. 15 outstanding children's plays, including "Malan Flower," "The Cat God in the Forbidden City," "Mulan," "The Nightingale," "Journey to the West" (Part 1), "The Twelve Months," "Pippi Longstocking," and "The Little Prince," were performed 131 times in 12 provinces and cities, including Beijing, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Hubei, and Shaanxi.

It is reported that since its inception in 2011, the China Children's Drama Festival has been successfully held for fifteen sessions, welcoming 385 troupes from 35 countries and regions across five continents, presenting 644 plays, and conducting a total of 2,919 performances both online and offline. (Source: People's Daily Online)