Children’s fest fun for the whole family
‘Everyone welcome’ to experience an event for people of all ages and cultural backgrounds
Nina Gonzalez is an old hand when it comes to the Vancouver International Children’s Festival (VICF).
She went as a kid. She volunteered as a teen. She took her young charges when she worked as a nanny. Now she’s super excited to see the May 29-June 4 Granville Island event through the eyes of her own children.
“I feel great. I’m sharing something I lived through when I was a kid. Now experiencing it with my own kid is kind of mind-boggling,” said Gonzalez, mother to Luna, 3, and Lucas, six months.
It’s safe to say that Gonzalez’s full circle experience certainly isn’t an anomaly, when you consider that this year marks the 40th annual children’s fest.
“I certainly have seen families grow,” said veteran festival performer Charlotte Diamond, who brought her two sons when they were children. She herself was an usher in the early 1980s before becoming a performer.
“Now that I’m getting older, it’s getting up to four generations. It’s really cool. I’m getting a really strong family effect.”
Like Diamond, Canadian children’s entertainment legend Fred Penner says he can look out into the crowd and see full families singing along. He says that generation depth is proof positive that you’ve enjoyed a healthy career.
“You never know how long things are going to roll when you first start a trip like this,” said Penner, who has spent four decades entertaining. “Now those generations are coming back and they’re really excited to connect, and they’re bringing their memories from when they were children. The grandparents are coming in, so really, it’s a huge chunk of humanity that’s keeping me going.”
The festival on the surface is, of course, about fun and family, but look closer and what you see is a wonderful microcosm full of kids from all backgrounds and cultures lining up in runners to gumboots to get their faces painted and sitting shoulder-to-shoulder singing at the top of their lungs.
“The element of community spirit at the festival is so important,” said Diamond, who won a Juno in 1986 and then went on to full-time performer status and a 17-year run at the VICF.
“It’s a celebration of diversity. Everybody is welcome.”
A big reason for the inclusiveness of the event is the long-running school program that gets kids from lower-income elementary schools to the festival. According to VICF artistic and executive director Katharine Carol, this year’s fundraising (mostly corporate donations) will allow 1,600 kids to go to the festival for free.
Gonzalez was an east-side kid who benefited from the school program. Looking back, she values those early experiences at the festival as door openers to a world that might have been out of reach.
“The festival to me means art. It’s a way for kids who maybe do not have art in their lives to experience it,” said Gonzalez, who does a parenting blog called Nina on the Moon.
As Gonzalez explained, a trip to the children’s festival can and does mean a lot more than a day off from school and a rad field trip. There’s a lot to be said to watch actual people do actual creative things. Life-changing impressions can be made.
“They say, ‘Wow, a person can learn to do that? I want to do that. I want to learn about that. I want to learn how to play guitar. I want to learn how to juggle. I want to learn how to be onstage and learn how to make other people excited,’ ” said Penner.
The Vancouver festival started out as a city initiative spearheaded by Ernie Fladell, who was then working for the city’s planning office.
Seven years ago money was tight and the festival moved to Granville Island. Not having to put up tents every year saved a bundle.
To help mark the 40th anniversary, the festival is offering a very special Friday night show. Penner has organized Fred and Friends. Joining him onstage will be Diamond, as well as two other pillars in the children’s entertainment world: Rick Scott and Norman Foote.