The “largest children’s arts festival in England and Wales”, the Spark Festival in Leicester will present “unforgettable” arts experiences for young people aged from birth to 13 over seven days in February.
The Spark Festival has grown over the past 16 years driven by the belief that the arts are crucial to a child's development and well-being.
One of the highlights will be Akin and artsdepot’s Nest, a multi-sensory experience for pre-walking babies and their parents and carers. Unfolding in a custom-built performance tent, Nest will take audiences on a journey through the seasons using tactile and sensory play at Attenborough Arts Centre on Monday 10 and Tuesday 11 February.
International performance company Reckless Sleepers will perform It’s Hot, It’s Not, a celebration of climatic events with no spoken language and plenty of music and sound effects, at Curve on Tuesday 11 and Wednesday 12 February.
A binaural sound and theatre experience exploring the magic of reading and the creative vitality of young minds, Fuel Theatre’s The Day I Fell into a Book will be staged at Curve on Thursday 13 and Friday 14 February.
The egg and Travelling Light will be at Attenborough Arts Centre with Snow Mouse, an “enchanting” winter's tale for the very young which is “full of play, puppetry and music”, from Friday 14 until Sunday 16 February.
Theatre company Grensgeval from Belgium will splash out with Plock!, a visual circus-sound theatre that appeals to all the senses, featuring a man who tries to copy the painting of his hero Jackson Pollock. Audiences at Curve on Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 February will be issued with overalls for the “colourful, acrobatic show”.
Further information is available at the Spark Arts for Children web site.