Roll up, roll up! RoolaBoola, the Linenhall Arts Centre’s annual Children’s Arts Festival is just around the corner, bringing all the excitement of a top children’s festival to your doorstep. Shows, workshops, free events and much, much more are on offer from October 19 to 26 as RoolaBoola celebrates its 12th birthday in dazzling style, culminating in three days of mayhem, fun and entertainment with something for everyone over the October Bank Holiday weekend.
Here’s a flavour of what is on offer: RoolaBoola offers a line-up of the very best of top-quality shows for young people, their families and the young at heart: Enter the bizarre world of a wild balloon tamer in Circo Ridiculoso’s surreal comedy Lighter Than Air; Join Denmark’s Theatergruppen Batida for Spaghetti, a fun-packed mix of clowning, theatre and live music; Thrill to The Musician, a spellbinding retelling of the Pied Piper using magic, dance and an orchestra of instruments by Northern Ireland’s Cahoots theatre company;
Literally go “Ahhh!!” to PigNut’s charming combination of music, illusion and physical theatre for the very young; See An Seanfhear Beag, Branar’s heartwarming puppet tale about an old man and a dog no one wanted; Get multicultural with a dazzling mix of Breton, Irish and Nigerian live music, From Ile-Ife to The Liffey, with musicians Brian Fleming, Gabriel Akuiobi, Solomon Ijigade and Gwen Frin; Enjoy two of the finest animated short films of recent years, Lost and Found and Peter and the Wolf; Gasp at the visual night-time experience of The Magician’s Garden.
And that’s not all! 24 arts workshops over the October Bank Holiday Weekend offer hands-on experience in a wide variety of disciplines from drama to drumming, painting to puppet-making, and singing to samba. Plus there’s a whole bunch of drop-in activities for those ‘in-between moments’ and the ever-popular RoolaBoola Stories Room, complete with free books and readings. And of course there is a full Schools programme running during the week to give young students a great arts experience.
So there you have it: RoolaBoola, a magical, fun-filled brew for young people and the rest of the family too! Full programme details available in the vibrant RoolaBoola brochure, available to view on www.thelinenhall.com website or from the Linenhall Arts Centre. (Please note: Because of its popularity, pre-booking is essential for RoolaBoola shows and workshops. RoolaBoola booking office tel: 094 9028886. Booking now. )
