It’s a go! Tickets are on sale for the International Children’s Festival of the Arts, a major youth extravaganza that draws nearly 50,000 visitors to St. Albert.
This six-day festival, which runs on the banks of the Sturgeon River, takes place May 28 to June 2.
The 38th annual festival, its 25th in St. Albert, is designed to spark the imagination of children through world-class programming in music, dance, theatre, as well as the literary, visual and circus arts.
“We want our children to dream big, shoot for the stars and believe that anything is achievable,” said festival co-ordinator Paul Pearson. “After all, someone will become the future of space travel, make the next medical breakthrough or create priceless pieces of art – why not them?”
This year the festival hosts six mainstage shows that range from a mythical fantasy paper world and fearless circus arts to wacky sing-alongs and electric dance jams.
They are:
• From down under, Australia introduces Polyglot Theatre’s Paper Planet, a papery wild woodland that mixes theatre performance and art installation.
• Nimihitowin! once again mesmerizes with beautiful expressions of Indigenous culture in powwow and hoop dancing.
• Straight from the GoNoodle Network is Koo Koo Kanga Roo, a dance-along comedy party with infectious pop tunes, dance jams and characters such as ninjas, dinosaurs, and slumber parties.
• Kalabanté Productions, an African-Québécois circus troupe, returns with Won’Ma Africa, a stunning creation of daring acrobatics and African drumming and dance.
• Li Liu, an award-winning and internationally known circus act, offers a glimpse into Chinese acrobatics through hand-balancing, plate spinning and foot juggling to name a few.
• St. Albert Children’s Theatre once more brings to life Hans Christian Anderson’s The Ugly Duckling in the heartwarming theatrical tale Honk! Jr.
Visitors can also explore their creativity through a large mix of 12 workshops.
Tickets for feature performances and workshops are $15 each. Various ticket packages are available at www.childfest.com.
Tickets are available at the Arden box office, in person at 5 St. Anne Street, by phone at 780-459-1542 or at www.ticketmaster.ca.
