Australia's 360 ALLSTARS sports-circus and Robot Song to headline Vancouver International Children's Festival May 27 to June 2
Lineup on Granville Island includes a show aimed at babies and toddlers, powwow and hoop dance, puppets, and much more
360 ALLSTARS. Photo by Matt Loncar
CIRCUS, PUPPETRY, DANCE, and acts from as far away as Australia are set to come to the 47th annual Vancouver International Children’s Festival, taking place May 27 to June 2 on Granville Island. Tickets are on sale as of today.
Highlights of this year’s fest include two works from Australia: the 360 ALLSTARS sports-circus show by Onyx Productions coming straight from Broadway and Robot Song by Arena Theatre. 360 ALLSTARS features an all-star cast of world champions and record-holding athletes in a unique blend of high-energy BMX stunts, basketball tricks, breakdancing, MC-ing, acrobatics, and drumming. Arena Theatre’s Robot Song, meanwhile, uses cutting-edge digital technology, animatronics, and a beautiful original musical score to tell a true story about an 11-year-old girl on the Autism Spectrum who finds a way to express how she sees the world through a giant, singing robot.
There are 81 shows in all, including such music artists from across Canada as local hip-hop, rap, and soul artist Missy D and Manitoba’s iconic children’s singer Fred Penner.
In a new Vancouver International Children’s Festival Society commission with The Flame’s Deborah Williams, One of a Kind features true stories performed by the people who lived them, using physical theatre, puppetry, music, movement, and more.
For the fest’s youngest audiences, Tree offers a rare opportunity for babies, allowing them to settle into mama bird’s cozy nest while she warms her luminous clutch of eggs. Plants, insects, and animals visit, accompanied by soothing melodies and rhythmic music, in this Quebec-made show copresented by Boca del Lupo and its Micro Performance Series for ages 0 to 2. Another version, called Tree, a world in itself, is being performed for kids 4 and up.
Copresented with the Talking Stick Festival, Nimihitowin! features powwow dance, hoop dance, and Métis jigging in a show created exclusively for young audiences by acclaimed Calgary-based Cree musician, contemporary dancer, and choreographer Jessica McMann. Salish Culture takes the spotlight in Tsatsu Stalqayu, Coastal Wolf Pack’s mix of Salish songs and stories.
Carousel Theatre for Young People, working with the VICF and Zee Zee Theatre, will debut The Papa Penguin Play at the fest, featuring Peaches and Izzy—two male penguins who want to start a family of their own. The show is written by Vancouver’s Dave Deveau.
Elsewhere, Yassama and the Beaded Calabash is rooted in African oral traditions, telling the story of a young girl who saves her village from drought with the help of an old Baobab tree through rhythmic language, vibrant dance, energetic Malinke and Soussou songs, and live drumming. And Otosan, by B.C.’s Little Onion Puppet Co., follows little Shizu as she hides in her Otosan’s suitcase and secretly travels to his most dangerous destination—The North, home to snowy owls, white wolves, and grizzly bears. The show is inspired by co-creator Shizuka Kai’s real-life experience with her father, a wildlife videographer, and it’s been created with the support of Deaf Consultants to include people who are Deaf or hard of hearing.
And Quebec’s Kif-Kif Sisters bring their signature blend of comedy, theatre, puppetry, circus, and magic to the show Jam Side Up!.
There’s much more, all happening amid the festival village on Granville Island. Tickets can be purchased online at ChildrensFestival.ca, or during the fest at its on-site box office located between Festival House and the Waterfront Theatre on Granville Island.
The fest is the longest-running professional performing-arts festival for young audiences and the first of its kind in North America and Europe. 
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