City News
Children’s Arts Festival Experiences Growth Spurt
January 10, 2012It’s back and bigger than ever! Richmond’s creatively interactive festival connecting children of all ages with professional artists is set to burst forth on both Friday, February 17 (9 a.m. to 3 p.m.) and Saturday, February 18 (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.).
For two days, the Richmond Cultural Centre will play host to dozens of 90-minute Creativity Classes with accomplished artists leading kids in dance, drama, puppet making, cartooning, guitar, hip hop and more. Pre-registration is essential for these workshops and for $10/class, children will also get to experience performances and many fun, hands-on Imagination Stations to explore hand drumming, lantern making and other activities throughout the Cultural Centre.
For those wishing to enjoy the Children’s Arts Festival without registering for a Creativity Class, a $5 wrist band will get them drop-in access to all of the performances and Imagination Stations.
The 4th annual Children’s Arts Festival, presented by the BC Children’s Art and Literacy Centre in partnership with the Richmond Arts Centre, is unique among children’s festivals in that it is all about children, themselves, creating and exploring art, learning directly from professional artists. The festival is, in fact, five days long, with the first three sold out days open only to school groups. Last year, over 1,200 children took part in 81 events and activities over two sold out school days plus one public day. With the addition of a third school day and a second day that is open to the public, the 2012 festival expects to easily surpass that number.
The Children’s Arts Festival is presented with the support of the Richmond Community Foundation, Richmond Public Library, Richmond News, Richmond Arenas, Richmond Art Gallery, Richmond Museum Society, Cinevolution Media Arts Society, Gateway Theatre and Gateway Academy for the Performing Arts.
Full details about the 4th annual Children’s Arts Festival including a schedule of Creativity Classes and list of artist instructors are available at www.richmond.ca/artscentre.
