Vancouver International Children’s Festival announces extraordinary 2021 online lineup
World-class theatre, music, dance, and storytelling created specifically for children and youth will be experienced from the comfort of home
N'nato Camara performs with Africa Oyé at the 2021 Vancouver International Children’s Festival, taking place online.
A reimagined Vancouver International Children’s Festival for 2021 will entertain children and families online from May 31 to June 13.
Performing artists from India, Australia, Scotland, France, the United States, and beyond are scheduled to perform throughout the fest, which offers a mix of live and pre-recorded online events.
This year’s extravaganza features an extra seven days of viewing, with unlimited streaming access right through to June 13 at 8 pm, allowing families to watch online shows multiple times and at moments that work best for them.
The pandemic has been particularly hard on families. To support families and ensure the festival is accessible and affordable to all, no matter their current circumstances, the Vancouver International Children’s Festival is offering pay-what-you-can pricing this year.
“We know parenting can be challenging on a good day and the pandemic has made life a lot more stressful. Because of this, the Festival is committed to supporting families with pay-what-you-can pricing,” says artistic and executive director Katharine Carol, “Now more than ever, there is an incredible need to experience the joy of the arts. The Children’s Festival is an opportunity for parents and their children to forget their worries for a moment and focus on what’s important in life: to dance, to be silly, and to connect with each other.”
Highlights of the 44th annual festival include Canadian music icon and beloved children’s singer Fred Penner as well as A Piece of You (Scotland), a private interactive concert for just your household, where artist Greg Sinclair takes your personal story and turns it into a song.
When the Colours Ran Away is an interactive digital arts film and festival commission by ThinkArts of India. The film uses live action and animation to tell the story about the shenanigans of a group of colours in an Emily Carr painting.
Exceptional first-time festival performers and local artists—such as Ideas Bobert (British Columbia), a mix Ginger Rogers with Mr. Bean and the Muppet Show, will also grace the fest’s digital stages. There truly is something for everyone.
In addition to so many incredible shows, the festival is presenting a series of online arts workshops, making it easy for the whole family to be creatively playful together, with six activities to choose from, there are many ways to engage children’s imagination and enhance creativity all while having fun together as a family.
All performance tickets include access to the online arts workshops. Ticket-holders can watch the workshops live online or view a recorded version at a more convenient time.
Cris Derksen’s Nerds Whirlwind Musical Tour (Cree Nation, Northern Alberta, Canada), The Cat Came Back Tour (Manitoba), LOUD (BC / Canada with roots in Philippines, India, Jamaica, Taiwan and Ghana), Africa Oyé (BC / Canada with roots in Cameroon, Benin, Guinea, South Africa and Zimbabwe), and Bobs and LoLo (British Columbia) are among the many other featured acts. Plus there’s a DJ Dance Party (British Columbia) with DJ Michael Fraser and Instrvnged‘s dancers.
Vancouver International Children’s Festival is the longest running professional performing arts festival for young audiences and the first of its kind in North America and Europe.
Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased online at childrensfestival.ca.
This post is sponsored by the Vancouver International Children’s Festival.