The Vancouver International Children’s Festival – A Prized Tradition

The main stage is the center of attention for the Vancouver International Children’s Festival, and it hosts a huge variety of shows throughout the week. Shows include A Circus in Time, an acrobatics, stilts, tight-rope walking, and aerial dance show that brings talented kids from Vancouver together into a stunning array of physical feats. Al Simmons brings an act called “Sounds Crazy” to the stage to explore the science of music. In it, he combines creative genius, quick one-liners, and good-natured skylarking with quirky science and general goofiness to create an educational and dazzling performance. He will explain how vibrations, sound waves, resonance, and other aspects of music are made and then demonstrates them on everything from garden hoses to turkey basters.

Sparrows is certainly a kid-oriented production, but it offers a strikingly melancholic look into a young girl’s post-war neighborhood, in which she imagines growing a garden. Imagination certainly does take off in this unique blend of clowning, music, and wonder, where paper birds fly across the stage and the sandwiches burst into song. Another favorite of the Vancouver International Children’s Festival is the Variety Show, the popular Friday night showcase, during which four headliners from earlier acts come together into an excellent blend of comedy, music, and overall fun.

The Vancouver International Children’s Festival features a number of other activities, such as face painting, dancing, kite making, music classes, a huge sandbox, temporary tattoos, a teepee village, and much more. There are even several special events, with free performances by Vancouver’s CirKids, as well as a marimba dance and music troupe called Tambai. Some events take place on Granville Island, and some at the Aberdeen Center, so that no matter where you are, there is part of the festival you can enjoy close to you. If your kids have an appreciation for music, dancing, learning, and fun, don’t miss out on this year’s exciting Vancouver International Children’s Festival!