This year’s Baboró International Arts Festival for Children is now on and the spirit of this year’s festival is all about acknowledging the bravery of our incredible children, and about recognising how vital young people are to our communities at this time.
Each year we feature individuals who are passionate about Baboró. This week’s Baboró Ambassador is Sarah McGinley, Principal of St. Joseph’s Special School in Newcastle.
Sarah is also a member of the Galway Community Circus Wires Crossed project and is an active supporter of the arts in Galway. Sarah strives to provide access to as many extra curricular activities as possible for the pupils at St. Joseph’s Special School. She tells us how delighted she is to have Baboró coming to the school this week to present an outdoor show in line with the latest Level 3 guidelines.
One of my favourite Baboró memories is usually arriving at the event and being immediately whisked away into an all-inclusive and all-accepting atmosphere. One of the highlights for me was Egg-tion Hero in 2018. My class went out to a local cafe before the show and made it a total treat day. Within minutes of watching the show our staff and pupils were rolling around laughing. We laughed the whole way back on the bus and had new “in “ jokes from then on.
Baboró is important to Galway because it recognises our children, all of them. It reminds us that we have a city full of children who get to be the centre of the arts world during Baboró. Artists connect with our kids and normalise the occurrence of “thinking outside of the box“ activities; they help us explore the world around us. Us adults are reminded to enjoy our own inner child too. Interestingly, it’s one of the rare completely inclusive events for children with any additional needs. We always feel welcomed and encouraged to participate, and above all St. Joseph’s School pupils feel like honoured guests!
I’m really looking forward to this year’s Baboró Festival because this week Baboró is visiting the school with an interactive show called Hear our Voice! by Phillida Eves, where a beautiful new world will be set up in our school orchard. Pupils are experiencing music and drama and they are also at the centre of it; they will make the show. Staff and pupils are being transported to a tranquil environment to explore our senses. It’s a dream come true for the school community to have this outdoor and socially distant event in St. Joseph’s - especially after such a difficult year for everyone. It’s really magic.
Baboró International Arts Festival for Children is now on until 18 October. Since the country moved to Level 3 earlier this week, indoor events will not go ahead. However audiences can enjoy ground-breaking digital experiences. For full details see www.baboro.ie
