Vancouver International Children’s Festival announces 2023 lineup; tickets now on sale
The 46th annual event on Granville Island and online features artists from as far away as Madagascar and Australia
A Simple Space. Photo by Chris Herzfeld
The 46th Annual Vancouver International Children’s Festival has been announced, running May 30 to June 4 in-person on Granville Island and May 30 to June 23 online, with tickets now on sale.
This year, 18 professional performing artists from as far away as Australia and Madagascar are scheduled to perform a total of 84 shows for entire families. The productions span theatre, music, dance, circus, puppetry, and storytelling.
The event is the longest running professional performing arts festival for young audiences and the first of its kind in North America and Europe.
Sakasaka. Photo by Clotilde Gerard
Highlights include Sakasaka, by Madagascar’s Compagnie Zolobe, in which three clowns continually try to drink a cup of water using only a mop, a bench, and buckets. The trio takes viewers on a journey that includes a “Thriller” dance homage, a trip on the Titanic and open-heart surgery! The all-ages Sakasaka, which means thirsty in Malagasy, is a wordless, physical comedy with live music and sound effects that highlights the global issue of water scarcity.
Commissioned by the Vancouver International Children’s Festival, One of a Kind (from B.C.’s Youth for Youth Program and Deborah Williams) is based on the true stories performed by the people who lived them, a group of diverse emerging theatre artists. With physical theatre, puppetry, music, movement, and more, the show geared to folks aged seven and up delves into the universal expression of storytelling.
ZOOOM is from Australia’s Patch Theatre, a whimsical but high-tech experience in which children become part of the show using a light they are given as they enter. Inspired by the classic children’s book Harold and The Purple Crayon, ZOOOM uses original music, lasers, and projections to take audiences aged three to 10 on an immersive shared journey.
Also among the in-person performances is Neworld Theatre’s Division Infinity Saves the World! (ages seven to 12, sponsored by Stir). A puppet show with stories and art, it was created by real Grade 4 students reflecting on their pandemic experiences.
Tree, from Motus, Québec, is a gentle, intimate show for the youngest of audiences (up to age two), live theatre created just for babies complete with soothing melodies and rhythmic music. The company’s Tree, a world in itself is a multi-sensory, interactive experience created for autistic children and adapted for children with intellectual disabilities and/or reduced mobility aged four and up.
Welcome to Missy D’s features the local hip-hop, rap, and soul artist and femcee who makes music as a form of therapy. The all-ages performance is in French.
Australia’s Gravity & Other Myths performs A Simple Space, in which seven acrobats push their physical limits to the extreme, each one trying to outdo the other with greater and more daring stunts and off-the-wall tricks. Ages seven and up.
B.C.’s own RupLoops brings Magnetic North to the fest, an interactive, live looping, high-energy performance that incorporates sound samples of imperiled environments and animals across the province. The all-ages performance explores climate change, endangered animals, justice, and environmentalism. .
Ginalina.
B.C.’s Small But Mighty - Ginalina and Friends (ages zero to nine) is an interactive and multilingual concert themed on the value of every child that features accordion, guitar, ukulele, percussion, erhu, and zither. Guests from the Vancouver Chinese Music Ensemble join the three-time-Juno-nominated Ginalina. The concert includes songs from her newest album and will be in English, French, and Mandarin with printable activity booklets.
The Wild Moccasin Dancers Ft. Mz Shellz (6 Nations and mixed Indigenous, British Columbia) showcases a contemporary fusion of powwow drumming, dancing, and hip hop. With regalia, songs, dances, and stories, the performance is for all ages.
Tara Cheyenne Performance, in association with Zee Zee Theatre and Carousel Theatre for Young People, offers Glamily: A Family Dress-Up Party, featuring Peach Cobblah and other local drag artists. Glamily is part drag show, part lip-sync open mic, and part dress-up party for all ages.
David Bouchard.
David Bouchard: Métis - Stories, Flutes and More…, from B.C., is an expression of First Nation spirituality, history, and culture by the storyteller and author, Bouchard shares his Métis heritage through inspiring stories and flute music, helping children better understand Indigenous beliefs and culture. Ages seven and up.
Aché Brasil (Brazil and British Columbia) is known for its mastery of capoeira, a thrilling combination of martial arts, dance, music, and acrobatics. Performed to the music of drums and ancient stringed berimbau, the dancers put on a high-energy show for all ages.
Also from B.C. are Will and Seeka: Friends with Everyone an interactive concert for ages 0 to eight; and Kind Line, a work in progress workshop from the artists who created Me on the Map (Kids Fest 2015) in which young co-designers (and those who love them) will contribute to a website designed by kids, for kids. The modular design workshop digs into compassion and empathy, anti-racism and anti-oppression with humour and heart and is geared to people aged seven and up.
The fest’s annual all-ages Variety Show features The Wild Moccasin Dancers, RupLoops, Aché Brasil as well as a sing-along with drag queen and host Peach Cobblah from Glamily.
Online performers include Cris Derksen’s Nerds Whirlwind Musical Tour (Cree Nation, Northern Alberta; ages eight and up) and Oopsie! (Candice Roberts, British Columbia; all ages).
Tickets and more details are at ChildrensFestival.ca.
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