Lleida will host the 18th edition of Lleida Juga on 29 May, with Camps Elisis turned into a space for play, coexistence and shared learning. The event runs from 16:30 to 20:30 and marks International Play Day, with a focus on play as a fundamental right for children under Article 31 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The festival is organised by Lleida’s Municipal Network of Play Centres. Councillor for Youth, Education and Employment Xavi Blanco said the event reflects the city’s Educating City model, with childhood at the centre and play seen as a tool for coexistence, learning and the future.
Activities will be set out along the central promenade of Camps Elisis, led by staff from municipal play centres, volunteers from the University of Lleida and professionals from participating organisations. The programme includes areas for early childhood, skill games, construction, sensory circuits, board games, puzzles, giant wooden games and musical activities.
This year’s edition keeps its inclusive play space, first introduced in the previous edition, and adds a quiet space for children, young people and families who need a calmer setting during the day. New features also include a water games area and Ecoxoc, a sustainable bumper car experience.
Forty-five companies and organisations are taking part, and 30 board game publishers are donating games for display during the event. Those games will later join the Municipal Network of Play Centres’ collection, where they can be used in person or borrowed by families. More information on the city’s play-centre network is available on the news tag page.
Alongside the festival, Lleida Juga will also include a conference by David Bueno i Torrens, Doctor in Biology and Neuroscience and a scientific communicator from the University of Barcelona. His talk, Playing is not a game: the importance of play in the integral formation of children, will take place on 26 March at 18:00 at the Teatre Municipal de l’Escorxador. The University of Barcelona has more information on Bueno’s work at ub.edu.
The City Council says the initiative underlines play as an educational, cultural and social tool, and as part of a more cohesive, inclusive and participatory city. The Convention on the Rights of the Child is available from the UN Human Rights Office.