The Philadelphia Interfaith Children and Youth Festival (PICYF) returned for a second year to the New Covenant Church campus last weekend for a two-day celebration of many diverse faith traditions.

The theme was "Choosing Hope." Hundreds of people turned out to eat food, listen to music, and have fun while learning about a variety of faith traditions. In a departure from last year’s event, the theme and the programming this year were chosen by the youth themselves, a core group of 12 to 18-year-olds serving on the Youth Advisory Council.

“What you see is what young people said they wanted to have at this event,” said Neomosha Nelson, the executive director of the Metropolitan Christian Council of Philadelphia (MCCP).

Nelson said the idea to have an interfaith children’s festival grew out of her admiration for two groups—the Philadelphia Interfaith Walk for Peace and Reconciliation and the Main Line Children’s Festival.

“Having partnered with the Peace Walk for the past few years, I was deeply impressed by their interfaith relationships,” Nelson said.

When she remembered the success of the Main Line Children’s Festival, she knew she wanted to “blend those two together in the city.”

PICYF is the first festival of its kind in the country, according to Nelson. It combines the desire in the interfaith movement to do “more outreach to younger people” with its mission of educating youth about different faith traditions.

Programming included a sound stage featuring many different performers (including Japanese taiko drummers), a Mormon youth choir, Grace ‘N’ Motion (singers & dancers from Grace United Methodist Church), Christian rappers, Sikh musicians and an American Sign Language demonstration.

Another idea the youth council put into action was the creation of  “Hope Village,” a tent containing information from different faith traditions about the interpretations of hope.

Rugiatu Conteh was instrumental in developing Hope Village, though she is reluctant to take credit for it.

“I don’t know if it was my idea,” she said. “We decided to have a place where people could come and read each other’s faith books and make hope bracelets.”

Many different faiths were represented at the festival, including Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Sikhism and others. At the Interfaith Walk for Peace and Reconciliation table, festival-goers could pick up an interfaith bingo board and symbol scramble that encouraged players to interact with one another to collect information about different faith traditions.

Nelson was delighted to find youths working together to plan the festival.

“It’s an opportunity for them to get to know each other,” she said, “and to discover that even though they may look alike, they come from different faith traditions.”

The concept of forging connections between people from diverse faith communities is one that the Philadelphia Interfaith Walk for Peace and Reconciliation has been touting for many years.

Vic Compher, who is one of the founding members of the group, said it's been trying to "cultivate a different spirit of understanding of different cultures and faiths.”

He also emphasized the interfaith movement has changed a lot in recent years.

“It’s not what our parents knew, which was mostly about tolerance,” he said. “Today’s movement is much more about deep understanding and friendship. And it’s more fun.”

Lance Laver echoed that sentiment, saying that the Walk for Peace and Reconciliation is really about building up trust between groups, which is something that doesn’t happen overnight.

That enables members to support one another in situations like one when the Sikh community was having significant difficulties with TSA in airport security checks.

“We facilitated a meeting with TSA and the Sikh community,” he said, “as a way to promote understanding” of Sikh beliefs and culture.

The meeting was helpful in communicating to TSA officials the sacred aspect of hair for Sikhs, which they do not cut, and the wearing of turbans in their faith tradition.

The Peace Walk is scheduled for April 29, and more information about it and how to get involved can be found here.

The group holds monthly meetings on Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. at Al-Aqsa Mosque and Islamic Center on 1501 Germantown Ave. The next meeting is on Oct. 19.

Both the Interfaith Walk for Peace and Reconciliation and the Interfaith Children’s and Youth Festival have already signaled that an environmental theme will be next for 2012.