The end of the year is always a busy period on the Festival circuit. From October to December 2016, I visited the following events:
- Baboró
This annual international art festival for children is held in the quaint Irish west coast city of Galway. With a week of activities including theatre, film, dance and visual art the festival has been running since 1996 and is a great place to visit as all venues can easily be accessed on foot . - De Betovering
Each year during the Autumn Break the international children’s art festival ‘De Betovering’ (The Enchantment) takes place in The Hague in the Netherlands. The Festival host a two day delegate programme for local and international visitors and this is a great way to experience a snapshot of this 9 day festival. The foyer space and rehearsal room at the main festival venue is always a hive of activity with children engaged in multiple hands-on art making activities - SwedStage
A bi-annual showcase of the very best of Swedish performing arts for children, youth and adults. Held over three days the work presented is tour ready and extremely diverse in content, form and age range. - SEGNI New Generations Festival
This annual festival is held in the stunning city of Mantova, Italy. Still relatively new on the festival scene the city boasts some of the most stunning and historical venues for 18 months to 18 years. A large majority of the work is Italian but with an array of interesting international selections. I hosted two case clinic sessions at the festival under the title ‘Faire et Savoir FAire’. This was a great opportunity to meet local artists and companies and problem-solve real situations. - Bronk’s EXPORT/IMPORT Festival
Based in Brussels, Bronks is not only a venue and a theatre company producing dynamic work, but they also host a bi-annual festival of mostly regional work available for touring. - Montreal is the host city of one of the largest performing arts showcases in the world – CINARS.
The event also coincides with 2 youth arts events. Focus Quebec a three day showcase promoting 'Made in Quebec' theatre for young audiences and Les Coups de Théâtre an international festival celebrating theatre for young people established in 1990. I attended 26 productions over a very busy week in Montreal and came back wishing I remembered more of the French I learnt in high school back in Australia. - And finally Showbox in Oslo. This festival is presented annually by our PUSH Project partner Scenekunstbruket – The Norwegian Touring Network for the Performing Arts. The festival was established in 2005, and since then has become the largest performing arts festival for children and young people in Norway.
I would like to thank the festivals, individuals and government agencies who hosted me during these visits.