A four-day weekend filled with mesmerizing performances, engaging workshops and tons of free activities lie in store over the Children’s Day weekend at the Esplanade’s Octoburst! – A Children’s Festival.
From 3 to 6 October 2014, the Esplanade will be celebrating childhood with ticketed and non-ticketed activities that both children and their parents can enjoy together. For the past 10 years, Esplanade has been providing children with the opportunity to be exposed to the arts through fun and interactive experiences during the annual Octoburst! festival and this 11th year is no exception.
There are two ticketed performances to look forward to, three engaging parent-child workshops taking place, and numerous free performances and kid-friendly activities being held over the weekend. Also taking place during Octoburst! is the wildly popular Colouring Fun and On-the-spot Drawing Contest.
Ticketed Performances
Something Very Far Away
Arriving on our shores from the United Kingdom is Something Very Far Away by theatre group A Unicorn Production. A beautiful and sweet puppet show, it combines live puppetry, music and sound, to tell a moving story of loss.
A scientist named Kepler who suffers a tragic loss. He then heads out to the Universe in the hope of recapturing what is most precious to him.
During its 35 minutes, Something Very Far Away makes innovative use of film cameras to capture and project the live puppet scenes onto a screen for audiences. Well-received by audiences overseas, the Daily Mail said “These are 35 of the most charming and touching minutes I’ve spent in a theatre” and Time Out London described it as a play that “looks upliftingly at one man’s devotion and how his love endures.”
>> Read our interview with Mark Arends who wrote, directed and scored Something Very Far Away.
Dance Appreciation Series: Introduction to Ballet Classics
Do your kids love to dance? Take their love one step further with The Singapore Dance Theatre’s Dance Appreciation Series: Introduction to Ballet Classics. Presented in collaboration with Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, this specially curated performance for children ages two and up, exposes little ones to ballet classics.
Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Don Quixote and Nutcracker will be made accessible to children through excerpts and narration at this hour-long performance at the Esplanade Concert Hall. Kids that come dressed in their favourite character costumes will get to take photos with the cast after the show.
>> Read our interview with Ms Rosa Park, Senior Artist at the Singapore Dance Theatre.
Parent-child Workshops
Those itching to get even more hands-on can participate in three engaging ticketed parent-child workshops being held as part of Octoburst!
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Using cardboard pieces and everyday, household items, parents and children can unleash their imagination and fashion their own pinhole camera in Pinhole Monster, a workshop led by Wang Ruobing. Recommended for children between six and 12 years old. |
| Join master storyteller Kamini Ramachandran as she delves into the Japanese art of visual storytelling in Kamishibai Storycrafting. During the workshop, parents and children will weave together their own stories and even make their own illustrative kamishibai story cards to accompany their newly-spun tales. Recommended for children four to eight years old. |  |
| Transform a piece of paper into a 3D pop-up card with a pair of scissors and some folds. Chiho Tamura, a Japanese artist living in Singapore, will teach workshop participants kirigami, the Japanese art of paper cutting, and help them create their own personalised works of art in Kirigami Pop-up Card Making. Recommended for children five to nine years old. | |
All workshops require the child to be accompanied by a parent. Tickets are available at $28 per parent-child pair.
Octoburst! Children’s Drawing Competition & Colouring Fun
Taking place on Friday, 3 October is the Octoburst! Children’s Drawing Competition & Colouring Fun. This free event is open to the public. Pre-registration is required.
Images: Courtesy of participants from Octoburst! Drawing competition 2013
Children between two to four years old can pick up a colouring sheet to join in the fun while older kids from five to 12 years of age can take part in the On-the-spot Drawing Competition. The theme of the On-the-spot Drawing Competition will only be revealed on the day itself and children will have to use their skill, originality and creativity to impress the judges.
Closing date for registration for the Children’s Drawing Competition & Colouring Fun is on 1 October 2014. Registration can be done at the Octoburst! website.
Free Workshops and Events
During the course of the four-day festival, Esplanade will be abuzz with free activities and performances for families and children to enjoy. At the Concourse, children can take part in Make Your Own Percussion Instrument or head to the Jendela Visual Arts Space to create an origami book which you can decorate and bring home at the Book Making Workshop.
Be entertained by The Amazing Toy Box, whose catchy songs and hilarious antics will keep audiences clapping along at the Concourse, while other young performers such as the junior dancers fromChowk, young thespians from Kreutzer Ensemble and Friends, and the budding musicians from My Piano Room, take to the stage to showcase their many talents.
Step outside to the Esplanade Outdoor Theatre where Dwayne & Friends will be presenting a fast-paced game show that the audience can participate in, while Sight Lines Productions will be parodying Disney’s Frozen with Roasted, a Frozen inspired production, reimagined for sunny Singapore.
Other activities to look out for include Octopost at the Concert Hall Meeting Point where kids can pen a handwritten postcard for that special person in their lives and aMaze me! a live-art installation at the courtyard where colourful ribbons create a maze for families to get tangled in together.
There are more than 20 free performances, activities and visual art displays taking place during Octoburst! making Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay the place to be to celebrate Children’s Day with a bang!
Octoburst! 2014 – A Children’s Festival
Date: 3 to 6 October 2014
Venue: Esplanade – theatres on the bay
For the full set of programmes and schedules, refer to the Octoburst! – A Children’s Festival website.
Get your tickets at www.sistic.com.sg, all SISTIC outlets and via the SISTIC Hotline: +65 6348 5555.
