Spark Festival lights up school holidays at Attenborough Arts
Come along to Leicester’s favourite children’s festival between Monday 23 May – Saturday 4 June. Families are invited to explore The Spark Festival at the University of Leicester’s Attenborough Arts Centre, including free activities in their new gallery space and children themed food in the refurbished Attenborough Café.
A playful programme of arts events for the very young includes Poggle, a funny, sensory dance theatre piece with live music and bubbles on Friday 27 and Saturday 28 May, 10.45am and 1.30pm and Baby Disco on Sunday 29 May.
Sponge, an exciting participatory experience taking children on a creative journey with lots of family interaction is on Friday 3 June and Spitalfields Music’s award-winning, interactive, opera series Musical Rumpus: Run, Rindle, Rill is on Saturday 4 June.
Shows for toddlers include Doodle Dance on Tuesday 24 and Wednesday 25 May, 10.30am and 1.30pm and Grandad and Me, a living storybook about loss, longing and the treasures of memory and imagination, about a young girl, missing her Grandad on Tuesday 31 May and Wednesday 1 June. Drop in for the book launch of The Nose That Nobody Picked a snotty, surreal, rip-snorting yarn for all the family also on Wednesday 1 June.
The little ones can also enjoy FREE activities every day in the art explorers’ kids’ area in the Attenborough Café and every Saturday as part of FREE Gallery Family workshops on 28 May and 4 June, 1pm-3pm. Join in during half term to create your own story objects in Cabinet of Curiosities, a fun free workshop exploring your imagination to make a sculpture to join our festival display. Led by artist Jo Dacombe, in response to her exhibition The Reliquary Project in Gallery 3 on Wednesday 1 June, 10am – 3pm. Children can take further inspiration from the Small Print International exhibition in Gallery 1 by creating their own monoprints on Saturday 28 May, 1pm - 5pm and linocuts on Saturday 4 June, 1pm - 5pm.
As part of The Spark Festival they are also offering relaxed performances, which are aimed at opening up theatre experiences for people with autism and other learning disabilities.