This year, Words Open Worlds (WOW) at the SU Woordfees offers something for everyone – young and old!

The WOW Festival kicked off on Saturday (4 March) at Coetzenburg with the annual Carnival for the whole family. Also on Saturday WOW presented several educational projects: Stellenbosch University (SU) was introduced to about 1 500 matriculants from across the Western Cape to encourage them to continue with higher education; a special day was held for teachers filled with training and tips to get their learners to read; a school media workshop, in cooperation with Media24; and the Paint and Poetry workshop, in cooperation with the NB Publishers, where the poetry and painting activities of the learners were inspired by a story book and the SU Woordfees theme, "Wys" (show).

Shireen Crotz, the Sanlam WOW Spelling Festival coordinator, is especially excited about this year's WOW Writers' Festival. "It is held over four days, from Monday to Thursday (6 to 9 March), and every day about 50 learners and ten teachers are involved.

On Wednesday (8 March), no fewer than 120 learners from across the Western Cape will be attend the Writers' Festival – all members of the WOW Readers Club who have read the books that were discussed at the Writers' Festival last year.

"From Tuesday to Thursday (7 to 9 March) we offer three grammar sessions for teachers to keep leaners in the intermediate phase busy with the reading of fun stories, and for the senior phase teachers are shown how they can use grammar books and dictionaries for stimulating language games. Literature is not neglected either, and we show teachers how to present poetry and prose in a creative fashion," says Crotz.

In cooperation with the Friends of Afrikaans, a WOW reading workshop was held to encourage learners to become bookworms.

In conjunction with the ATKV, a theatre workshop will introduce 220 primary and high school learners to the world of acting, producing, décor, props and text writing. The requirements for the ATKV Teen Theatre Festival, which takes place in May, will also be announced.

And last not but least, there is the WOW Debating Festival, in which some 36 teams from the Western and Eastern Cape compete in various categories.

• For more information on WOW and their wide range of activities, visit www.woordfees.co.za.