News
Festival 2023 is announced!
We are super excited to announce our 2023 festival programme!
For last year’s festival our vision was to present our audiences with work that offered a chance to find joy in truly being themselves, a programme that aimed to bring a simple curiosity to discovering who we are. For the Spark Festival 2023 our vision is to present work which explores how we can express those discoveries and give them a voice. Placing an importance in activism, creativity and expression resulting in a festival that uses the arts and creativity as a tool for discussions and understanding. Here are just a few gems that will be coming to Leicester in February 2023…
- You can follow three raggedy puppets, who are trying to enjoy their day but not all goes to plan with ‘What Happened to you?’ or take a delightful imaginary train journey through India with Choogh Choogh
- ‘Look Mum, No Hands!’ is a tender story about friendship and growing up told through acrobatic theatre presented in schools or go on a playful adventure though dance with ‘Four Go Wild In Wellies’
- Join the ‘Palaver Party’ where everyone is free to be whoever they want to be.
There will be something for everyone as the festival is a programme of music, dance and theatre for children aged 0-13 years in venues, schools, libraries and community centres across the city bringing to the stage voices and stories that often go unheard.
This year we have a bigger and bolder ‘Spark at Home’ strand which includes digital and sensory events to enjoy at home, designed especially for audiences who experience barriers to accessing venues during our festival.
The Spark is not just a festival but a yearlong programme. As always, as part of this year’s festival children aren’t just our audiences, they’re our artists too and at the heart of the programme, as part of the family weekend and in their schools. You’ll be able to experience the imagination of local children as they work with artists to take over some of Leicester well known cultural venues putting on activities, games and performances for the whole family to enjoy together.
The Vital Spark behind everything we do
We believe that all children should be able to experience arts and culture, and that they should be able to see themselves represented in these experiences. This is not yet the case for every child and we’re committed to changing that.
Our response is Vital Spark, and it's at the heart of everything we do. Vital Spark is about challenging and changing the lack of diversity in children’s arts and culture; it’s about diverse-led artistic decision making; it’s about not being afraid to stand up for what’s right.
We do this by supporting artists who are currently underrepresented in children’s arts and culture. We also work with partner organisations to create world-class opportunities for these artists and share best practice.
