News: Festival

Alongside 11 other children’s arts organisations we’re calling for arts and creativity to be at the heart of every child’s life – artists or ‘creative practitioners’ should be part of the core team around every child!

If like us, you have missed the festivals this month, we encourage you to make the most of these rainy days to enjoy some beautiful, challenging and exciting content available online at the moment.

After nearly six years at the helm, Imaginate’s Chief Executive Paul Fitzpatrick is to leave to take up the newly created post of Director of Creative Engagement at the National Theatre of Scotland.

Artists Jim Manganello and Lucy Ireland talk about what they have learnt and (un)learnt while developing their new Untitled Discotheque Project.

As life continues in lockdown for many of us and for some taking the first tentative steps out of restrictions, we thought it might be a great time to share some new digital adventures with you from around the world.

Imaginate Chief Executive Paul Fitzpatrick reflects on what theatre and dance can bring to children in these stressful times - UPDATED

Vince Virr is a dance artist based in Scotland who has performed at the Children's Festival many times. Here he reflects on his experience being in lockdown in two countries, China and now Scotland, and what he has learned from that.

Read about the PUSH and PUSH+ artists programmed as part of the this year's krokusfestival as the connections between partners and artists continues to grow.

The PUSH+ Home Lab finished at Showbox Festival in December 2019 in a programme that explored Home through performances and discussions that included a number of artists from PUSH. Here the Scenekunstbruket team reflect on that.

At Imaginate we are grappling with how to respond to the climate crisis and reduce the amount we fly, while retaining our international outlook. Read on to find out why, and how you can help.

Birds of Paradise recently did an Imaginate residency with Pilrig Park School at the end of 2019, here Artistic Director Robert Gale talks about the experience and what they learned.

We are delighted to announce that Belinda McElhinney has been appointed to undertake a PhD over the next three-year in partnership with the University of Aberdeen, on the following topic: Valuing Young Audience: how children experience and value live theatre and dance, and why it matters. This research project seeks to explore and evidence the value of watching theatre and dance for children as audience members in a school setting and in an arts venue. It will use a combination of ethnographic tools including participant observation, semi-structured interviews and workshops to engage with children, teachers, parents and artists to understand the children’s experiences. 

Rosa is one of two Launchpad artists with Imaginate, here she talks about her recent trip to Krokusfestival in Belgium.

Our PhD student Katie Hawthorne is discovering the treasure-trove of the Scottish Theatre Archive at Glasgow University, and meeting with a raft of people from Imaginate's past.

As Imaginate prepares to celebrate its 30th birthday, PhD student Katie Hawthorne is creating an interactive archive to open up 30 years of Imaginate’s history to the public. In this series of blogs, she shares her experience of rummaging through boxes, dusting off photo albums and finding hidden gems...

Imaginate has announced the programme for its 30th anniversary year, which will feature an enhanced Children’s Festival programme including an immersive production from ground-breaking Punchdrunk, two new commissions from Scottish theatre makers, an exciting year-round schools programme, new international partnerships and more development opportunities for artists.