Pune: Fourth Children’s Festival Returns This December 11 With Emphasis On Play Over Screens
Pune: Fourth Children’s Festival Returns This December 11 With Emphasis On Play Over Screens
Pune, November 28, 2025: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is set to organise the fourth edition of the Pune Children’s Festival from December 11 to 14 at Sarasbaug. This year, the event will centre around the theme “Less Screen, More Play,” encouraging children to cut down on digital exposure and engage more in physical and creative activities.
The annual festival has consistently drawn over one lakh visitors, becoming a prominent feature in Pune’s cultural lineup. Along with promoting active play, the 2025 edition will also emphasise the well-being of parents—an aspect that organisers believe is crucial for healthy child development but often overlooked.
According to PMC officials, early childhood is a formative phase for developing cognitive, social and motor skills. To raise awareness about holistic growth in these crucial years, the festival will host more than 30 child development organisations. Families can look forward to interactive games, learning modules, storytelling sessions, hands-on workshops and discussions designed to offer both enjoyment and guidance.
A key highlight this year will be the new Care Pavilion, a space dedicated to helping parents pause and reflect on their own mental and emotional health. Organisers pointed out that with Pune’s fast-paced urban lifestyle, digital pressures on modern parents are increasing, making conversations around self-care essential.
Pune is also recognised as a Deep Dive City and an Urban 95 Lighthouse City under the Nurturing Neighbourhoods 2.0 initiative—supported by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, the Van Leer Foundation and WRI India. Under this programme, the city is working to incorporate child- and parent-friendly planning into various development projects. Activities like parent–child meet-ups in neighbourhood parks have already helped encourage more outdoor time and reduce reliance on screens among young children.
PMC has invited families across the city to participate in the four-day festival and benefit from the thoughtfully curated activities at Sarasbaug.
