Tunis: The 24th Arab Radio and Television Festival will be held in Tunis from June 26 to 29, 2024. The previous edition was held from June 12 to 15, 2023. The festival takes place each year at the City of Culture, which hosts the various events planned for this festival, previously held in the seaside resort of Yasmine Hammamet. The opening ceremony takes place in the Tunis Opera Theatre, while the closing ceremony is held in the ancient theatre of Carthage. The opening and closing ceremonies will be broadcast live on various Arab television channels and radio stations, both public and private. The Palestinian cause and solidarity with the Palestinian people will be at the heart of this year's festival, according to the festival's website. Programming will focus on the resistance of the Palestinian people and Arab and foreign media coverage of the situation in the occupied territories since the start of the war on Gaza on October 7, 2023. Entries are currently being selected by the selection committees f or the two competitions and the two parallel sections, as announced on the festival website. The committees will continue their work for a fortnight, at the end of which the shortlisted entries will be announced. The festival announced that it had received '289 entries, including 147 television programmes, 108 in the official competition and 39 in the parallel section'. These entries were submitted by '20 television channels, including 6 private channels, in addition to 18 production companies'. As for radio, '142 radio programmes were submitted, 125 in the official competition and 17 in the parallel section, an unprecedented number in the history of the Festival', according to the same source. TV and radio stations that are members of the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) take part in the official selection, which is aimed at audiovisual media professionals. Production companies take part in the parallel section. Two competitions and two parallel sections are dedicated to the participating televisio n and radio works. Two winners will be selected in each of the many categories (programmes, series, podcasts, variety and talk shows, reports, interviews, etc.). In addition to the competition, the festival offers a cultural and artistic programme of conferences, tributes and guests of honour from some of the most emblematic figures on the Arab audiovisual scene. In the central hall of the City of Culture, exhibitors from all five continents will present the latest technological innovations in audiovisual production. Last year, TAP news agency had its own stand at the ASBU Festival to promote its journalistic productions (texts, photos and videos). The Arab Radio and Television Festival is organised by the Arab State Broadcasting Union (ASBU) in partnership with Tunisian Radio and Television Corporations and the Arab Satellite Communications Corporation (Arabsat). Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse