Books come alive at festival
STORYTELLING, theatre, puppetry, music and film are just some of the activities on the line- up for this year’s Children’s Book Festival.
The jam- packed arts event for kids takes place from Thursday, 2nd to Sunday, 5th March in Sligo town. Spokeswoman Maeve McGowan from the Hawk’s Well Theatre says: “Three of Sligo’s leading cultural organisations have come together for a fourth year to host the Sligo Children’s Book Festival, celebrating family literacy and creativity of parents and young children.
“The Model arts centre, Kids’ Own Publishing Partnership and the Hawk’s Well Theatre have created an action- packed festival featuring the return of the Kids’Own Book Factory to inspire and entertain children and parents alike.”
The book related events will take place at the Hawk’s Well Theatre and The Model.
The festival kicks off from 11am- 1.30pm on Thursday, with the Dr. Suess’ 113th Birthday Party at The Model. The party will be opened by Sligo mayor, Marie Casserly and will feature a meet and greet with some Dr. Seuss characters, cake and hot chocolate and some surprises from Sligo IT Performance and Theatre Design students.
The festival will include book making sessions with Kids Own Book Factory in The Model. Led by artist Naomi Draper and writer Jo Holmwood, these sessions especially for schools are sold out but there are also three individual sessions on Sunday; 10- 11.30am for 3- 4yr olds; 12- 1.30pm for 5- 7yr olds and 2.30- 4pm for 8- 10 yr olds. All places cost € 8 can be booked through Kids Own ( info@ kidsown. ie).
On Thursday and Friday Coiscéim present The Wolf and Peter at the Hawk’s Well. Prokofiev’s Peter and The Wolf is one of the most well- known pieces of music ever written.
Maeve says: “In this energetic new work, David Bolger has taken this timeless story of courage and imagination as inspiration, but here - the story is told through the eyes of…. the wolf!
“Filled with dance and live music, this fun and richly theatrical production will take children and their families on a thrilling adventure to explore and discover contemporary dance and performance at its best.”
This show is suitable for children aged six and upwards. Friday’s schools performance is sold out but there are still tickets available for families at the 6pm show on Thursday, March 2nd.
On Saturday March 4th, The Ark presents RIDICULOUS! at the Hawk’s Well. Performers Sorcha Fox and Sinead Murphy will take the audience on a journey through crazy poems, silly songs and nonsense verse from some of the best loved children’s’ poets.
Featuring work from Roald Dahl, Lewis Carroll, James Joyce, E. E. Cummings, Shel Silverstein, Spike Milligan, Tom Lehrer, Jack Prelutsky, Marriott Edgar and Pat Ingoldsby. Suitable for children aged six and upwards, this is a performance that will be loved by both adults and children alike. Tickets are € 8 for this event which takes place at 2pm and 4pm.
On Saturday, The Secret of Kells will inspire two workshops for kids at The Model. Puppetry for Kids for children aged 6- 8 where children will create their own puppets based on characters from the film.
Later that day, from 2- 4.30pm, there will be an animation workshop for 9- 11 year olds, Stop Motion for Kids. Children will work in small groups to create stop motion animation - again based on The Secret of Kells. Attendants of both workshops are invited to return the next day for a special red carpet puppet event, followed by the screening of their animation work and the wonderful The Secret of Kells film.
The Speks return to the Hawk’s Well on Sunday, March 5th at 2pm. This popular group will present a lively show of nursery rhymes and sing- along songs set to acoustic Irish music which will have adults and kids jumping in their seats!
Their hand- clapping, toe- tapping, hearty- laughing show is all about life on ‘ Glasses Island’- a magical island off the coast of Co. Clare where everybody wears glasses! The Speks have won a Parents’ Choice music award in the US where their music has been described as ‘ Riverdance for kids’ and they encourage everyone to sing, scream, clap and dance along during their performances! Suitable for children aged 2 and upwards, tickets for this show are € 8.
On Sunday 5th March at 2.30pm, the Hawk’s Well Theatre presents the first of their Books & Hot Chocolate Club get- togethers for young readers. The theatre’s first junior book club for children will feature brilliant books and fantastical characters. Children will take part in a fun craft- making activity and enjoy an entertaining storytelling session with a tasty hot chocolate! Suitable for children aged 7- 9 and created to inspire the joy of reading from an early age, this event is already sold out.
For further information please see www. hawkswell. com or info@ themodel. ie