Festival returns
THIS year’s Loogabarooga Festival begins this week, with plenty of fun activities and events lined up.
Book benches have also been relocated around Loughborough town centre.
The Loogabarooga Festival of Incredible Illustrations and Brilliant Books takes place at venues around Loughborough from October 18-23, with a range of literary events and shows for children and families across six days.
This year, it will be celebrating 80 years of the Beano – the longest-running British children’s comic.
Here is the list of events taking place:
• 11am, Official opening of Loogabarooga Festival at Charnwood Museum
• The Art of Comic Screen Printing with John Patrick Reynolds, Charnwood Museum, 11.30am - John Patrick Reynolds, the only screen printer with permission from DC Thomson, the publisher of The Beano, to use its fabulous archive of images in his work will give a talk about the process he uses from comic to paper.
• Stanley’s Stick - Live with John Hegley and Neal Layton, Loughborough Town Hall, 1.30pm - This colourful event brings together author, John Hegley and illustrator, Neal Layton who present the tale of Stanley’s Stick. With a stick in hand, Stanley’s options are endless - his imagination takes over and the magic begins...
• Telling and Drawing the Supersonic Sofa with John Hegley, Loughborough Town Hall, 5.30pm - John Hegley’s workshoppy show tells the tale of an ordinary living room sofa zooming into the sky to visit people and places determined by you, the audience and him, the author. Add your own words and pictures to his work in progress.
• Calling All Ages Illustration Competition, Age UK Loughborough Bookshop, 9.30am–4.30pm
• Beartastic Tales with Story Teller Nicky Rafferty, Centro Lounge, 11am
• Creative Clay Play, Creations Pottery, 10am-11am, noon-1pm, 2pm-3pm, 4pm-5pm - Craft your very own creation in clay and take home a fantastic souvenir of Loogabarooa! Help to make and paint a unique masterpiece. All materials included.
• The Library Lion, Loughborough Library, 10.30am, 1pm - Miss Merriweather, the head librarian, is very particular about rules. No running allowed. And you must be quiet. But when a lion comes to the library one day, no one is sure what to
do. There aren’t any rules about lions in the library!
• Willy Wonka Workshops, Chocolate Alchemy, 4pm - Explore the world of Willy Wonka in their very own chocolate factory. You will be taken on a journey into the world of Willy Wonka with readings from the book by the man himself!
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19 • Calling All Ages Illustration Competition, Age UK Loughborough Bookshop, 9.30am–4.30pm
• Creative Clay Play, Creations Pottery, 10am-11am, noon-1pm, 2pm-3pm, 4pm-5pm - Craft your very own creation in clay and take home a fantastic souvenir of Loogabarooa! Help to make and paint a unique masterpiece. All materials included.
• Bookworms, Loughborough Library, 11.30am, 12.30pm, 1.30pm - Wriggling their way in and out of trouble, The Bookworms pop-up to bring their stories to life! Join funny guides as they worm their way into twisty and fantastic adventures through imaginative worlds. Rhubarb Theatre’s new touring festival show is ‘bound’ to be crazy!
• Amy Bradley talks Penguinpig - Loughborough Library, 12.15pm-1pm, 3.15pm-4pm - Come and listen to Penguinpig illustrator, Amy Bradley, whose quirky, colourful drawings really brought the important story of Penguinpig to life and draw your own Penguinpig!
• The Imagination Station!, Festival Den, Queen’s Park, 1.30pm-2.30pm - Fabulous arts and crafts activities inspired by our favourite children’s illustrations.
• Willy Wonka Workshops, Chocolate Alchemy, 4pm - Explore the world of Willy Wonka in their very own chocolate factory. You will be taken on a journey into the world of Willy Wonka with readings from the book by the man himself!
• LoogaBarooga Film Nights with Shadow Puppet Fun, Festival Den, 7pm-8.30pm.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20
• Calling All Ages Illustration Competition, Age UK Loughborough Bookshop, 9.30am–4.30pm
• Beartastic Tales with storyteller Nicky Rafferty, A Plan Insurance, 30 Cattlemarket, noon - Bring a snuggly blanket and settle
down with your favourite teddy while Nicky sprinkles her own unique bearish magic on a selection of teddy-bear stories. Nicky might even tell a story about your bear!
• Creative Clay Play, Creations Pottery, 10am-11am, noon-1pm, 2pm-3pm, 4pm-5pm - Craft your very own creation in clay and take home a fantastic souvenir of Loogabarooa! We will help you make and paint a unique masterpiece. All materials included.
• Room On The Broom with Tiny Frenzy, Loughborough Library, 10.30-11am - Come with Tiny Frenzy for lots of fun, role-play and music as they read Julia Donaldson’s Room On The Broom in a 35-minute drama and storytelling class.
• Search For The Gruffalo with Mini Frenzy, Loughborough Library, 11.30am-12.30pm - Join Mini Frenzy as they search for the Gruffalo through drama and imaginative play. In this 45-minute session, they will transport your little ones to another world using drama games and focused imaginative play.
• Little Frenzy’s Where The Wild Things Are, Loughborough Library, 2.30pm-3.30pm - Does your youngster love to play, pretend and perform? Then come along with Little Frenzy as they explore the story of Where The Wild Things Are, in a 60-minute workshop involving drama, role-play and plenty of fun games.
• The Imagination Station!, Festival Den, 1.30pm-2.30pm - Roll up, roll up! The Imagination Station has landed! Have a go at art and craft activities inspired by children’s illustrated literature.
• Kevin J Adcock: By Jove!!!, Festival Den, 5pm-6pm - Stories from Adventures with
Sir Maxwell & the exciting sequel By Jove!!!, illustrated by Luong Tran, come to life when local author, Kevin J Adcock reads and answers questions about both books.
• Loogabarooga Film Nights with Shadow Puppet Fun, Festival Den, 7pm-8.30pm - As the night draws in, come along to a fun filled evening of fabulous children’s film on the biggish screen in the Festival Den then create your own magical shadow puppets!
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 21
• An Isadora Moon Party with Harriet Muncaster, Festival Den, 11.30am-12.30pm - Join author and illustrator, Harriet Muncaster for a drawing workshop, sparkly craft activities and fun party games! Wear your very best Isadora Moon fancy dress for your chance to win a special prize!
• Cartooning Workshop with Laura Howell, Festival Den, 1pm-2pm - Join Laura to learn the basics of cartooning, making drawings from simple shapes and finding out how famous characters are put together.
• Clare Elsom - Horace and Harriet: Sports Spectacular, Festival Den, 4pm-5pm - Join Clare Elsom, the illustrator of the bestselling Flying Fergus series for a story time and live drawing session. Clare will introduce her hilarious brand-new series Horace and Harriet as they go on lots of brilliant adventures.
• Street Art by Graffwerk, Market Place, 11am-1pm, 2pm-4pm - Suitable for families of all ages. Graffwerk is offering two fully supervised ‘comic themed’ Posca paint pen graffiti illustration workshops for kids of all ages. They can get involved with and create some personalised artwork to take away with them.
• John Kirk, Dennis and the Chamber of Mischief, Festival Den, 2.30pm-3.30pm - Join storyteller, John Kirk on a fantastical adventure with some of your favourite Beano characters as he retells the epic and truly hilarious story by Nigel Auchterlounie.
• Willy Wonka Workshops, Chocolate Alchemy, 3.30pm - Join us to explore the world of Willy Wonka in their very own chocolate factory. You will be taken on a journey into the world of Willy Wonka with readings from the book by the man
himself!
• Creative Clay Play, Creations Pottery, 10am-11am, noon-1pm, 2pm-3pm, 4pm-5pm - Craft your very own creation in clay and take home a fantastic souvenir of Loogabarooa! Help to make and paint a unique masterpiece. All materials included.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 22, AND TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23
• School Talks, Loogabarooga in Schools. Not open to the public.
Throughout the Festival - From Dennis the Menace to Desperate Dan, an exhibition of original comic
art, Charnwood Museum, during museum opening hours.
• The Art of Comic Screen Printing with John Patrick Reynolds, Charnwood Museum, during Museum opening hours
•The BIG Bookcase! Charnwood Museum, during museum opening hours - It’s back! Come and create a book to go on their BIG Bookcase! Help to build a living library of reading memories by contributing a book cover of your own design to their bookcase!
For more information and to book tickets, visit www. loogabarooga.com