Get creative at the Children's Arts Festival
21 January 2020
Brighten the last sliver of winter by setting your little artist’s imagination free at the 12th Annual Richmond Children’s Arts Festival on Family Day, Monday, February 17.
This year’s festival, presented by Lansdowne Centre, will see the Richmond Cultural Centre (7700 Minoru Gate) transformed into a creative space for children ages three to 12 years from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.. The festival will unleash their boundless energy and imagination and channel their joie de vivre into art, music, dance, writing and creative play. For full details about the Children’s Arts Festival, visit www.childrensartsfestival.ca.
“The Children’s Arts Festival is a special reminder of the power of children at play,” said Mayor Malcolm Brodie. ““By giving children an opportunity to interact with skilled artists and push their own artistic boundaries, we open the door to many life-long benefits. We welcome children, parents and caregivers from across Metro Vancouver on Family Day to activate those curious minds.”
The always popular Creativity Classes offer artist-led, structured guidance for registered participants to learn the foundations of all types of artistic expression including songwriting, stop-motion animation, theatre-based games and everything in-between. Space is limited for the Creativity Classes and advance registration is recommended. Classes are $15 each and include general festival admission. A complete listing of available Creativity Classes can be found at www.childrensartsfestival.ca/creativity-classes.
If your little one is more inclined to roam free and explore what tickles their fancy, the $5 per person General Festival Admission can be purchased on site (cash only) on the day of the Festival and includes drop-in access to the Imagination Stations and a range of fun creative activities. In addition, the Richmond Cultural Centre will be decked out with many hands-on activities, live performances on multiple stages and a complimentary performance of Axis Theatre’s Th’owxiya, a tale from the Kwantlen First Nations village of Squa’lets.
The new decade also ushers in a reimagined festival branding with a new poster illustration. Richmond-based artist, Dawn Lo, sought to create “light-hearted, inclusive and timeless visuals” to emphasize the whimsy and energy of children at play while taking special note of the home of the event and what that represents.
“The physical space of the Richmond Cultural Centre played an important role in the designing stage of the new artwork”, said Lo, Emily Carr University graduate. “There is the Richmond Art Gallery and the Media Lab representing creativity, arts activities, the Main Library and the Richmond Museum for knowledge and critical-thinking and the Rooftop Garden about being environmentally-conscious, active and healthy. These are all activities that can be found happening at the festival. I tried to draw them as fun and as inviting as possible.”
The new look references the playful nature of the Children’s Arts Festival while paying tribute to its foundation. The event was founded in 2008 by Debbie Tobin, a kindergarten teacher whose vision for the event was rooted in the core belief that engaging children in the arts leads directly to improved literacy, and that within every child there is a little Picasso or Emily Carr. That value continues to be the heart of this annual event.
The Children’s Arts Festival is produced by the City of Richmond and presented by Lansdowne Centre. The Sonic Garden is presented by Cowell Auto Group. Community sponsors are Richmond Public Library and OOK Enterprises. Media sponsors are Richmond News, QMFM and 93.7 JR Country.