The 8th Annual International International Festival of Jewish Children's and Youth Creativity Freilehe Kinder took place in Karaganda, Kazakhstan, in late June – early July. The festival gathered over 200 participants from 12 Kazakhstan cities, as well as from Tashkent.

The opening ceremony began with an address by Alexander Baron – Chairman of the Mitzvah Association of Jewish Communities of Kazakhstan, EAJC Presidium member and the mastermind of the festival. “There is nothing more noble,” he stressed, “than giving children knowlegde, skills, culture, and art.”

Among others who addressed the gathering were representatives of the Karanda Oblast' Administration, who noted the meaningfulness of the event for the city and region. An address by JAFI Kazakhstan Regional Department Head Ilana Levi was also read at the opening.

Each Freilehe Kinder festival traditionally follows a single theme. The theme of the 8th festival was “Back to the Past: Our Shtetl.”

Over 50 concerted items in different genres were presented during the 4-day program, including the thematic game “Our Festival Shtetl.” The youngest children played a “Jewish Casino,” where the children had to solve Sudoku puzzles with a Jewish holiday theme. There was also a play based on the children's story “The Cunning Tody and the Miserly Laiser,” by Isaak Bashevis-Zinger.
As Alexander Baron stressed in his speech, “We will build our community through our creative work.”