Children's Arts Festival Set to Inspire

Children Auckland-wide will be able to unleash their inner creativity at this year’s Franklin Children’s Arts Festival on Saturday, 9 March 2013.

The one-day event, which is being held in Pukekohe, will see all spheres of the arts unite together under one roof, allowing children of all ages to experiment with visual and performing arts through a variety of exciting, interactive workshops and demonstrations.

The festival is free and aims to provide young people with access to art, music, performance and dance in a fun, festive and inspirational environment. From experimenting with tangle art, jewellery making or learning to ride a unicycle, to making clay creations, mastering the African drums and discovering circus performing, there are creative skills session to suit all tastes and ages.

“Last year’s event exceeded our expectations with around 2,000 children participating in the day’s workshops and activities, so our festival team is gearing up for an even bigger and better event this year,” says Ms Molineux.

“It’s rare that children are able to experience such a spectacular showcase of free art, music, performance and dance under one roof, so we encourage everyone to come along and have a go,” she adds.

The festival, which runs from 10am – 2pm, will be based in and around Pukekohe Town Hall with a full line up of workshops as follows:

Art workshops: ‘The Inspiractive Mural Project’ – a live mural project featuring time lapse filming, plus clay, wearable arts (funky sunglasses and mask making), spin art flags, chalk art, jewellery making and tangle art.

Music workshops: drumming with African drummers, Drum Talk, plus guitar and ukulele with the NZ School of Music.

Movement workshops: dance with Groovit hip hop,  Indian dancing and unicycle with Tony Meltdown.
Once again, budding illustrators will be inspired by talks and demonstrations from New Zealand children’s book illustrators, Bruce Potter and Raymond McGrath. Children of all ages will enjoy the storytelling.

The crowds will be entertained throughout the day with a cultural performance by Wesley College, Pukekohe High School bands, Pukekohe Indian Association cultural dance performance, Valley School Kapa Haka group, and individual performances from students of the NZ Modern School of music.

The festival atmosphere will be enhanced by a magical fairy wonderland featuring ribbon weaving, rock painting and story-telling, plus stilt walkers, clowns, face painters and balloon modelers.

No pre-registration is required. The event is possible thanks to the voluntary involvement of artists, musicians, dancers, teachers, local businesses and parents from the wider community and grants from Auckland Council Creative Communities NZ fund and the Franklin Local Board.

See the Franklin Children’s Arts Festival Facebook page for regular event updates.