Once again St. Albert welcomes the International Children’s Festival of Arts, a four-day extravaganza that draws naturally curious kids of every age into a magical realm of fun and discovery.
It takes place May 30 to June 2 in the city’s downtown core on the banks of the Sturgeon River. This miniature carnival tent city offers a gateway into the arts and opens possibilities that create lasting memories.
As one of North America’s largest and longest-running festivals, the event celebrates its 43rd anniversary with a blend of imaginative mainstage shows, roving entertainers, low-cost workshops and free activities.
And free is the operative word. In an economy where some people juggle between buying food or paying rent, the festival has numerous free activities, including an outdoor stage erected on St. Albert Place Plaza.
Outdoor Stage
The plaza is an ideal spot to eat lunch or grab a snack from food trucks while watching diverse onstage entertainers perform throughout the day. Professional actor and longtime roving artist Heather D. Swain is tapped as the humorous Dr. Auntie Doe, master of ceremonies.
Kick-starting each day is Earl Ellis, 85, a retired schoolteacher from Sherwood Park. He leads the Pepper Seed Steel Pan Orchestra, a group combining youth and adult players.
“Steel Pan music is very melodic. It’s island music. It feels good. It's Caribbean, and they play such a variety of music,” said Ben Sures, professional programming presenter.
Another artist, Washboard Hank, adopts a silly and wacky approach with crowds. The singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist is a bit of a backwoods philosopher, who repurposes other people’s junk to create his own instruments. Get ready to listen to him strum a Stradivarious Washboard.
The Street Circus from Winnipeg draws oohs and aahs wherever the duo performs. Daniel and Kimberley Craig are cirque-level acrobats who perform diverse stunts from handstands to hula-hoops, and fire juggling to contortion.
“They’re normally featured as main performers, but we thought it would be nice to offer high-level performers on the street,” Sures said.
Performing at an equally fast pace is Heather Blush and the Uppercuts, a trio of rogue troubadours who pack a punch with witty and honest songs. Expect to hear Blush sing about topics ranging from tropical fruit to taking selfies. Accompanying her is Steve Hazlett on drums and ukulele and Cedric Blary on clarinet and sax.
“They sing original songs, and they are bouncy, poppy and fun.”
And Jo Jo’s Magic Circus is full of off-the-wall stunts, dazzling magic, goofy juggling tricks and a trusty rubber chicken that takes the antics to a new level of silliness.
Roving Artists
While strolling through the festival site, roving artists will pop up here and there. And they have different missions from telling stories and showing off their skills to solving problems and making you laugh.
Aytahn Ross, an annual staple, returns to the festival garbed as The City Worker, a hilarious character who vacuums grass and trees in both of Canada’s official languages.
“He is so funny and he manages to keep a straight face while vacuuming grass. He is bilingual and while he roves, he’ll be translating for himself,” Sures said.
New to the festival this year is Kijo Gitama performing Sister Truth, a beloved character from Senegalese folk tales.
“This is Kijo’s festival debut, and she’s created characters specifically for the festival based on Senegalese folk tales and mythology.”
Liz Hobbs makes another appearance as the Happiness Fairy, waving her wand and making joy magically appear while Lyne Gosselin and Angela Brooks step up their circus act with flips and air splits.
“Lyne and Angela are high-end circus performers and are very adaptable. They can perform on cement or grass, sunshine or rain. They’re so flexible and they embrace the moment."
And St. Albert’s Ryan Arcand, an accomplished singer, drummer, dancer, drum/rattle maker and knowledge keeper returns to sharing his love of drums.
More free things
Scattered throughout the festival site are free drop-in activities children can enjoy. They range from an education station of plastic pieces where children can build everything from mountains to castles to an outdoor laser field where kids have to duck, weave and bob though an obstacle course.
And the city’s Code Ninjas are invited to unleash their creativity and code their own galaxy. Once they’ve created their masterpieces, they can dive into the immersive world of Virtual Reality and watch their creation come to life.
There’s also a self-guided maze and an eco warrior challenge that blends outdoor activities with hands-on learning. Beaners fun cuts for kids is prepped to give custom dye jobs for hair. That can be followed by snapping a photo of your favourite dinosaur at Telus World of Science Tent.
Also strategically placed throughout the festival site are the four stages of the life cycle of a butterfly. The cutouts are designed so viewers can take their photos riding a caterpillar or morphing into a butterfly. And visitors are encouraged to post photos tagging the festival at #childfest2024!
Workshops
This year, workshops vary from shaping textile plants and printmaking to creating puppets from scarves and hula hooping. Maryann Borch shows participants how to weave a duck from a cattail leaf, while musician Earl Ellis introduces students to four groups of percussion instruments — metal, skin, wood, tin.
In Story Seekers and the Dictionary of Destiny, meet story seekers Jupiter Jump Up and Abernathy Holding-Handle who hunt stories. The audience chooses their own adventure and shapes the path of the story.
“The two artists are Amber Borotsik and Jesse Gervais, and they’ve developed a very interactive show. There’s a parade leading up to it and its a live-action adventure,” Sures said.
Instead, Du conte à la scène (From Page to Stage) is an opportunity to hear different stories written by Jean de La Fontaine, an 18th-century French writer who published Fables in poetic verse. Francophone actors Steve Jodoin and Marie-Joanne Fogue Makou craft their own interpretation of La Fontaine’s characters and short scenes.
“Steve and Marie-Joanne are two actors from L’UniTheatre who create the scenes and deliver them in French,” said Sures, adding tickets for workshops are $8.
The festival’s eclectic mainstage shows feature Polkadots, a St. Albert Children’s Theatre musical; Koo Koo, a high-energy dance party; Grimmz Fairy Tales, a hip-hop dance sensation; The Libravian, a sweet, quirky librarian who tells stories; the Cree-speaking Bighetty & Bighetty Puppet Show and more.
Tickets for mainstage shows are $10 to $18.25. A performance plus pass for $33 is valid for one feature performance and unlimited participation in paid activities. To order tickets online visit tickets.stalbert.ca or call the Arden box office at 780-459-1542.
