Generation Now Fest
Thousands of young people participated in Generation Now, the Central American Festival, which was sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Glasswing International, MTV Agentes de Cambio and ItsmoFest. This event, which brought together young people from Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador, aimed to celebrate, empower, and inspire Central American youth to champion positive change in their communities and their countries. This fest included three main activities:
- Volunteer Day Manos a la Obra (October 29th)
- Regional Youth Forum / Expo Center (November 11th)
- Concert / Expo Center (November 12th)
Manos a la Obra mobilized nearly 5,000 volunteers in six Central American capitals to revitalize children’s homes, public schools, and public parks. Thanks to our enthusiastic volunteers, hundreds of thousands of Central Americans will enjoy improved public spaces for years to come!
Bridges participated with 61 volunteers – youth and staff members. We cleaned, painted murals, tables, benches and more. The activity allowed us to team up with the private sector and other USAID and US Embassy projects.
For the Regional Youth Forum, speakers and recognized presenters gave lectures to 900 young people, most of them from USAID programs. The activity included discussion panels about issues of relevance to youth and the region, international NGOs and companies’ exhibitions.
In addition, Glasswing's programs throughout the Central American region, as well as Regional Debating Tournaments, and Central American Glee Fest performed in the Expo Center.
Bridges was in charge of the Embassy exhibition booth. We coordinated 12 US Embassy
and USAID projects to create a fun space where youth could play in an obstacle circuit and then write on decals their thoughts about what they dare to do to transform their communities. We had one thousand stickers with creative and solid commitments to make a change. Afterward, youth were invited to enroll in our programs.
Bridges participated in the forum with students from training centers we support and other youth from the National Youth Institute (INJUVE by its acronym in Spanish).
GenNow Fest offered more than 12 hours of music on Noember 12th at the Estadio Cuscatlán, presented by global and regional artists. The more than 15 musical acts included famous artists such as David Guetta, Nervo, Chino and Nacho. The concerts started at 2:00 p.m. and welcomed 5,000 youth from USAID and the US Embassy programs, plus 20,000 Salvadoran fans who bought tickets on their own, and by doing so, became part of the movement Generation Now Fest created during this three-day event.