BARCELONA. SPAIN. At first the two concepts seem difficult to relate but this was the aim of the Festival of Peace this year, held last Saturday April 30 in the town of Sant Just Desvern.

For twelve years now we have been celebrating this fiesta in the Plaça de la Pau in Sant Just Desvern. The purpose of this coming together is to educate all the local people, both children and adults about the importance of a culture of peace.

The organization in charge is the City of Sant Just Desvern but more than twenty public entities participate, contributing ideas for topics and helping to make the day more festive.

This year we chose the common theme from the work of the entities – armed conflict. Our organisation, the Collective of the Plaça de la Pau, was fortunate for the second consecutive year, with representatives of the Letter for Peace to deliver your message, once again, all the people of Sant Just Desvern.

Throughout the day there were a lot of activities: dancing of the Sardanas, parades of the giants, circus and theatre, amongst others, to try to involve as much as possible the entire population. At the end of the day three hundred white umbrellas with messages of peace written by children and adults were opened simultaneously, following a reading of famous phrases of peace by members of the municipal entities participating in this journey. In our institution, we chose two sentences, that we thought were well suited to the issue of armed conflict.

The first says: "When I was asked about a weapon that might counter the power of the atomic bomb, I suggested the best of all: peace" (Albert Einstein).

The second we chose was: "We need atomic bombs of generosity" (Vincent Ferrer). I think he deserves to be mentioned!

The umbrellas were sold at the symbolic price of 1 euro. The collection, together with that obtained from the sausage barbeque that concluded the party was donated to the NGO "Pallassos sense fronteres " (Clowns Without Borders) in hope of bringing a smile to all boys and girls, without needing or choosing it, as they are the primary victims of great armed conflicts.