FOR THE last 12 years Galway city and county has been alive with the sight and sound of thousands of children and families attending shows, workshops and other activities during Baboró.
Baboró, Ireland’s flagship children’s festival, is celebrating its 13th year with a sophisticated entry into the world of the adult. This October, along with one of the strongest programmes of Irish work ever presented, the festival organisers have programmed an international conference to examine the benefits of the arts and creativity for children.
“This is the first ever conference on Arts for Early Years to be held in Ireland,” said Baboró managing director Teenagh Cunningham. “It provides a vital platform to encourage the development of and research into the creation and dissemination of such work, both in Ireland and internationally.
“It is a measure of the commitment of Baboró as an organisation to developing the arts for young people in Ireland. Baboró is leading the way in providing a platform for established and emerging companies to showcase their work to the world.”
Funded by the Arts Council, NUI Galway, and the European Commission’s Culture 2007 – 20013 programme, the Natural Born Artists conference will place a particular emphasis on Early Years (0 to 6 ).
Key speakers include Martin Drury, Arts Director of the Arts Council and David Coleman, child pshychologist and presenter of RTÉ’s groundbreaking 21st Century Child and Teens in the Wild to speak – along with Irish and international speakers in the area of Arts for Early Years.
Full details of the conference programme will be available on the Baboró website www.baboro.ie from August 25. Enquiries about the conference can be sent to [email protected] prior to that date.
