Festival Programme

  • Events

The Spark Festival is moving! Save the date for the next festival 10 - 16 February 2020. To keep up to date with all our news, please join the Mailing List. Meanwhile, here is a look back over the 2018 Festival.

Events from 2018 Festival

Performance

14/48:UK

14/48:Takeover - Performance

The World’s Quickest Theatre Festival is being taken over by Leicester’s Young Writers!

Dates: Mon 28 May

Age: 8 - 13 years

Family Event

The City Playground

14/48:Takeover Design Team

Ever wanted to help design a Theatre set? Help fill The Y with a colourful collage of creativity.

Dates: Sat 26 May

Age: 6+ years

Workshop

14/48:UK presents

14/48:Takeover Writer’s Workshop

This is your chance to Takeover the Theatre! Create 4 plays in just 3 days!

Dates: Sat 19, Sat 26 & Sun 27 May

Age: 8- 14 years

Performance

Daryl Beeton

A Square World

An honest, touching and bizarrely quirky piece of theatre for young audiences.

Dates: Mon 21- Fri 25 May

Age: 3-6 years

Performance

Adriano Adewale

Animus

Soundscapes created by children inspired by animals, using song and percussion.

Dates: Thu 24 May

Age: 6+ years

Family Event

The City Playground

Art Explorers

Drop-in themed visual arts activities for the whole family to get involved with.

Dates: Sat 26 May

Age: 4+ and families

Performance

Teater Pero (Sweden)

Aston's Stones

A lovely story about Aston, the little dog who wants to take care of all the stones he can find.

Dates: Sat 26 & Sun 27 May

Age: 3-6 years

Performance

Attenborough Arts

Baby Disco - Jungle

Move to the beat through our multi-sensory creation with disco lighting and projections.

Dates: Sun 27 May

Age: 6 months - 6 years

Performance

Leicester Library Service

Bedtime Stories

Stories full of warmth, wonder and giggles, with hot chocolates and cookies!

Dates: Sat 26 May

Age: 2-8 years

Family Event

The City Playground

Curve Family Day

Roll up, roll up, for Curve’s fabulous fantastic circus Family Day! Join us for lots of free activity!

Dates: Sat 26 May

Age: All the family

Family Event

The City Playground

Day Dreaming

Day Dreaming for under 5s, drop-in arts workshops in response to Sky.

Dates: Sat 26 May

Age: Under 5 years

Family Event

The City Playground

Digital Playground

Interactive digital arts activities on the theme of music making.

Dates: Sat 26 - Mon 28 May

Age: 4+ and families

Workshop

New Walk Museum and Art Gallery

Exciting Egyptians – Visit the Bazaar!

Discover the sights, sounds and smells of Ancient Egypt in our interactive prop boxes.

Dates: Sun 27 & Mon 28 May

Age: 7-11 years

Performance

Arun Ghosh

Funky Punky Jazz Party!

A special music performance for early years by award winning clarinettist Arun Ghosh.

Dates: Tue 22 & Wed 23 May

Age: 2- 5 years

Family Event

The City Playground

Giant Drawing!

Join us and help transform Two Queens with some giant drawing! How big can we go?

Dates: Sat 26 May

Age: 4+ years

Performance

Windmill Theatre (Australia)

Girl Asleep (Film)

A film journey into the absurd, scary and beautiful heart of the teenage mind.

Dates: Thu 24 (Schools) Fri 25 - Sun 27 May (public screenings)

Age: over 12s only

Performance

The Egg and Toby Thompson

I Wish I Was A Mountain

Rhyme, live music, and just a smattering of metaphysical philosophy.

Dates: Wed 23 & Thu 24 May

Age: 7+ years

Family Event

Phoenix and Michael Davis presents

Illumaphonium

The Illumaphonium is a musical sculpture that ripples with changing patterns of light and sound.

Dates: Sat 26 - Mon 28 May

Age: 2+ families

Performance

Andy Cannon and Red Bridge Arts

Is This a Dagger ? The Story of Macbeth

A thousand-year journey from fact to fiction and back again.

Dates: Sat 26 May

Age: 8+ years

Family Event

The City Playground

Little Raptors!

Join Mr Cleaver's Monsters for feathered-dinosaur papercraft fun.

Dates: Sat 26 & Sun 27 May

Age: 6+ families

Family Event

The City Playground

Mega Monoprints

Create your own printed billboard using monoprint techniques.

Dates: Sat 26 & Sun 27 May

Age: 4+ and families

Performance

The Spark Arts for Children

Mellow Baku

A magical musical performance from vocalist, songwriter,guitarist and storyteller Mellow Baku.

Dates: Mon 21- Fri 25 May

Age: 5+ years

Performance

Turned On Its Head presents

Mrs Pockets

Come, dance with Mrs Pockets and help us make a show. Sensory play, dance and performance.

Dates: Wed 23 & Thu 24 May

Age: Early Years

Workshop

Pedestrian

Music Beats and Bars

Learn how to make and hone your own beats and bars.

Dates: Sat 26 May

Age: 8-13 years

Family Event

Spark Arts for Children presents

Musical Rumpus

An afternoon of mischief and mayhem, with music, storytelling, dressing up and dancing.

Dates: Monday 28 May

Age: All the family

Family Event

The City Playground

Ready or Not? Drop In

A new exhibition exploring play with drop in workshops to design and build new games.

Dates: Sat 26 - Mon 28 May

Age: 0-13 years

Workshop

The Gallery, DMU

Ready or Not? Game Theory

Design and build your own board game from scratch and add it to our exhibition.

Dates: Monday 28 May

Age: 8- 11 years

Workshop

The Gallery, DMU

Ready or Not? Hide-go-Seek

Playing traditional physical games like Hide and Seek , Tag and Marbles.

Dates: Sun 27 May

Age: 4-7 years

Workshop

The Gallery DMU

Ready or Not? Peek-a-Boo

A workshop for younger children exploring sensory gameplay though sound, sight and touch.

Dates: Sat 26 May

Age: walkers - 3 years

Performance

Teater Minsk (Denmark)

Sky

Everything is changing in this lyrical piece of dance theatre for the very young.

Dates: Fri 25 - Sat 26 May

Age: 18 mths - 5 years

Performance

Mimbre presents

The Exploded Circus

A story told with breath-taking mix of acrobatics, aerial feats, and masterful juggling.

Dates: Sat 27 & Sun 28 May

Age: 6+ years

Workshop

Pedestrian

Urban Art Graffiti

Explore how to draw Graffiti Art lettering using professional paint pens and materials.

Dates: Sat 26 May

Age: 8-13 years

Performance

M6 Theatre in association with Polka Theatre

Whatever the Weather

Two whimsical characters learn to share in this humourous, beautiful and highly visual show.

Dates: Tue 22 - Wed 23 May

Age: 3+ years