Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Bursting at the seams with a fun-packed programme for children (and grown-ups)
With half-term approaching, this week’s Festival Focus rounds up the best of the biggest-ever line-up for children – including an award-winning act from Australia and the first Canterbury Festival-commissioned children’s cabaret
The Festival’s family-friendly programme takes place across three weekends, mainly in the Spiegeltent– a stunning 1920s vintage travelling dance hall that lends itself to cabaret, variety and all sorts of silliness. Seating is flexible, there’s a buggy park area, and plenty of space for smaller siblings to crawl and toddle. Under-ones go free. Roll up!
Slapstick comedy circus Trash Test Dummies (October 28, 3pm) arrives trailing cans of laughter all the way from Melbourne, Australia. Kids, it’s time to get the bins out! TTD has won Best Children’s Presentation at the Adelaide Fringe Festival 2015, plus rave reviews – and promises to take Canterbury wheelie bins to new heights. The Dummies - Jamie Bretman, Jack Coleman and Simon Wright – are skilled circus performers showcasing jaw-dropping acrobatics, juggling and stunt work.
Canterbury Festival’s specially commissioned The Greatest Little Show on Earth (November 4, 2pm) is its first-ever cabaret designed for children, promising very silly audience participation. The Greatest Little Show is an
Greatest Little Show Pink offshoot of Marlene’s Cocktail Cabaret programmed for grown-ups for two nights later.
Another first for the Festival, the Family Friendly Ceilidh (October 29, 2pm) offers the chance for family and friends to get up and dance the Virginia Reel and Strip the Willow, courtesy of local band Swing the Bridge – who supply music from both sides of the Atlantic under the guidance of seasoned ceilidh caller and guitarist Martin Young.
Variety act Slightly Fat Features (October 24 and 25, 7.30pm) makes a triumphant return for two nights with a show described as ‘Cirque du Soleil meets Monty Python’.
To warm you up for the family ceilidh, enjoy a family dance party with Baby Loves Disco (October 22, Festival Spiegeltent, 2pm). Back by popular demand, the resident DJS will mix feel-good chart fillers with nostalgic classics amidst face-painting, balloons, a dress-up area, a selfie booth, and a licensed bar for parents.
Join time-travelling magic duo Morgan & West (November 1, Festival Spiegeltent, 7pm) for an evening chock full of jawdropping, brain-bursting, gaspeliciting feats of magic. Two dashing chaps – Rhys Morgan and Robert West – offer up a plateful of illusion and impossibility, all served with wit, charm and panache.
Brainy types can become a forensic investigator for the afternoon with the School of Biosciences at the University of Kent in Who Killed Justin Bieber? (28 October, 2pm, Stacey Building, University of Kent). And test your skill in Pub Quiz for Kids (October 21, 2pm) with stand-up comedian Patrick Monahan.
Finally, Actlab returns to the Festival with a specially commissioned experience Bikordeon (October 24, 2pm) for children and young people with profound multiple learning difficulties.