Fuelled by adventure, creativity, and laughter, Whistler’s longest-running event – the Whistler Children’s Festival – is back May 17-19.
Over the long weekend of Victoria Day, the Maury Young Arts Centre will be jam-packed with six show-stopping performances and twelve creative workshops, and the Village will be abuzz with roaming performers and free activities. The festival ignites kids’ imaginations, inspiring them to let loose and get creative – from science and dance workshops to magic shows and Juno-nominated children’s performers. As they say in showbiz, there is something for everyone!
The festival starts on Friday afternoon with a new offering, The Street Party. Join the fun out front of the Arts Centre with fun, participatory activities from chalk art to family dancing and face painting. Our information tent and box office will be open to help you plan the perfect festival weekend.
Saturday’s festival highlights include Rain City Improv! workshops, where kids will learn the basics of comedy improvisation through dynamic and hilarious activities and games. On the theatre mainstage, don’t miss the return of Will’s Jams, dubbed “the ultimate star of children’s rock ‘n’ roll.” Will’s Juno-nominated high-energy rock-pop music is full of witty wordplay and sing-along choruses, inspiring kids to be active, creative, and caring. Will has been known to get the parents to sing along, too!
Kids can enjoy getting messy with purpose on Sunday with Science World on the Road and their Dirt Detectives workshop. Uncover the wonders beneath your feet as you explore soil, worms, and compost, and learn the indispensable role worms play in enhancing our soil’s health.
For the little ones, Rachel Lewis’s Music Together workshop will have toes tapping and bodies wiggling in no time, and Michael Harrison makes his Whistler Children’s Festival debut on the festival mainstage with Ventastic – Reimagining the Art of Ventriloquism. This laugh-out-loud, one-person tour de force has been enjoyed by audiences of all ages in the Walt Disney Theatre aboard Disney Cruise Line, with more than 3500 performances over 20 years!
Tickets for workshops are $15, with theatre performances at $20. Want to bring the whole family to a show? A four-ticket bundle to the same theatre performance will be $70 (you get the 4th ticket for only $10!) Tickets are available at www.whistlerchildrensfestival.com and the Maury Young Arts Centre box office.
The Whistler Children’s Festival also features the Family Art Adventure, which is free to participate in. Interact with roving entertainment, jump in with Whistler’s own Algn Dance as they show you how to bust a move, and don’t miss (not that you could) the return of the Tadaa Lady and her world-famous “Nylon Zoo.”