Families in the region can look forward to two weeks of festivities just for kids as The Spark Children’s Arts Festival returns from 31^st May until 13 June 2010. This year’s Spark promises to stir the region’s imagination with an exciting programme to thrill, delight and inspire all ages. For one fantastic fortnight, venues across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland play host to a wealth of national and international theatre, music, dance, puppetry and art designed specifically for children.

Last year The Spark got families chalk drawing on the pavements at Highcross, painting the grass red at De Montfort Hall and tightrope walking in a Big Top at Regent College – to name but a few marvellous moments! For 2010 The Spark is bringing internationally acclaimed acts to Leicestershire with some visually stunning performances to mesmerize even the very young. World class companies including Oily Cart, Spoontree Productions, Horse and Bamboo, Barebones and Shona Reppe will delight young audiences during the festival.

Modern classics such as The Gruffalo at De Montfort Hall and Funny Bones at Curve, sit alongside traditional favourites including The Princess and The Pea at community venues and Treasure Island at Loughborough Town Hall. This year’s festival is more diverse than ever – don’t miss Boka Halat’s world music and their amazing Afro Ceilidh.

With engaging arts events to stimulate the whole family, The Spark offers so many opportunities to spend quality time together, go somewhere new and do something completely different. 2010 will see an innovative outdoor production of Grimm’s Fairy Tales at the Botanical Gardens and Leicester Cathedral will be hosting its first ever Spark event. The Spark programme is brimming with unique ideas for family days out with lots of ways to get stuck in and have a go - such as the Spin performance poetry workshops at The Y and a Sculpture Day at Cross Corners - plus many events are free!

The Spark is also delivering the festival right to your doorstep with performances at small community locations and larger venues alike. Many schools in the region are looking forward to Spark performances in their very own classrooms too.

The Spark Children’s Arts Festival will take place between 31^st May and 13^th June at venues across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland

The Spark Children's Arts Festival has unfortunately been forced to cancel this Sunday's Tree Planting Event at Aylestone Meadows due to poor weather conditions and unsuitability of the site. The event, due to be held this Sunday 14th will no longer take place and will be rescheduled when the site is suitable for planting. We are all disappointed andapologise for any confusion or inconvenience caused, but we hope toannounce anew date really soon.

The Spark Festival is seeking an external consultant, with experience of business development in the arts, to conduct an organisational review (to take place between February – July 2010), to support the creation of a long term development strategy for the festival and the organisation.

For more information please download the pdf document on the Get Involved page

Braunstone residents are being called upon to help make their mark on the park's new playable pathway.

As part of the Open Minded Play Spaces project to design a new play area at the park, there will be a creative Open Session at The Brite Centre on Saturday 14th November between 11am and 3pm.

Come along and create a design for the pathway - and your artwork could be set in stone for all to see!

For more information call The Spark Children's Arts Festival on 0116 261 6893 or visit www.sparkfestival.co.uk.

An exciting project is underway to create two new ‘Open Minded Play Spaces’ in Leicester city centre, at Braunstone Park and Aylestone Meadows.

The Spark Children’s Arts Festival is working with Leicester City Council with additional funding from the Big Lottery to create these new spaces. The Open Minded Play Spaces are designed to be inspiring areas for children – stimulating imaginative play - but they will also be there for the community to use for small scale events throughout the year. The local residents have been integral to the design of the spaces with the consultation process having begun last autumn.

Work at Aylestone Meadows begins in the next few weeks as the landscaping process gets started. The ‘Planted Playline’ will be a winding path, planted with a variety of trees, shrubs and flowers, creating circles for playing in, mounds and structures to climb on and through and three swings of different heights.

The landscaping, the planting of large trees and the installation of the swings will happen before Christmas – but the exciting business of planting the small shrubs and flowers takes place in the spring. With nearly 900 plants to be set in place, locals can get stuck in and lend a hand in January – further details of planting sessions will follow in the New Year.

If you would like to bring a group to help plant ‘en masse’ please call the Spark on 0116 261 6893 – the more the merrier!

The Spark will use the Open Minded Play Spaces during next year’s festival but the areas are there for everyone to enjoy all year round. The Spark is keen to hear your ideas for playful and/or creative events to make use of the new Spaces. Please call 0116 261 6893 with your suggestions.

An exciting project is underway to create two new ‘Open Minded Play Spaces’ in Leicester city centre, at Braunstone Park and Aylestone Meadows.The Spark Children’s Arts Festival is working with Leicester City Council with additional funding from the Big Lottery to create these new spaces.

The Open Minded Play Spaces are designed to be inspiring areas for children – stimulating imaginative play - but they will also be there for the community to use for small scale events throughout the year. The local residents have been integral to the design of the spaces with the consultation process having begun last autumn.

Braunstone Park is set to get its very own ‘Playable Pathway’, at the Braunstone Avenue end of the park. The path leads through the coppice on the lower slopes to an open area marked by existing trees. The pathway will feature a variety of natural structures for sitting and climbing on.

An old Braunstone resident will also be returning in the shape of the rocking horse who has lived on the park for many years. He is currently stabled for some much needed TLC – but will have a permanent home at the new Play Space in the Spring as a seat.

Lafarge Aggregates plc has donated a generous £20,000 from its Landfill Communities Fund and provided a set of granite boulders from its Mountsorrel Quarry for climbing and scrambling on at cost. The Tesco Charity Trust has funded an art project to come up with designs for the floor, which is taking place in November.

Your park needs you!

Braunstone residents are being called upon to help make their mark on this new playable pathway – quite literally! Your design could be set in stone for all to see. Come along to the Open Session at the Brite Centre on Saturday 14th November between 11am and 3pm to create your very own piece of the park.

The Spark will use the Open Minded Play Spaces during next year’s festival but the areas are there for everyone to enjoy all year round. The Spark is keen to hear your ideas for playful and/or creative events to make use of the new Spaces. Please call 0116 261 6893 with your suggestions.

Telling Tales is a programme of stories performed by six dancers using movement and spoken word, specially made for 4 - 7 year olds and their families. Commissioned by East Midlands Children’s Theatre Consortium, the works were created by acclaimed international choreographers Enrique Cabrera (Aracaladanza, Spain) and Hélène Blackburn (Cas Public, Canada), originally as part of a professional development programme.

The resultant work toured regionally in 2008, and in 2010 will be touring to more than 20 venues nationally from Stirling to Portsmouth with a programme of performances and linked workshops. Dancers wishing to apply for audition must meet the following criteria: essential: professional training completed; proven workshop delivery experience; professional performance experience; available January - Aprildesirable: familiar with using text in performance; strong interest in dance theatre for children. availability: 12 weeks (including rehearsal) January – April 2010

Auditions will take place on Saturday 1 August, from 9.30am at Greenwich Dance Agency. If you wish to be considered for audition, please send an up-to-date CV which includes criteria above by 12 noon Monday 27 July to Michelle Neville, email michelle.neville@nottingham.ac.uk or contact her for more information on +44(0)115 8467690. You will be contacted by Wednesday 29 July if you have been successful in gaining a place at the audition.

Closing Date for receiving CVs: Monday 27 July 2009Audition Date: Saturday 1 August 2009, from 9.00am for registration

Venue: Greenwich Dance Agency, The Borough Halls, Royal Hill, London, SE10 8RE www.greenwichdance.org.uk

This touring project is supported by Lakeside Arts Centre and the University of Nottingham, Déda, The Spark Children’s Arts Festival and Arts Council England

What do mountains of rice crispies and jelly, balloon dogs, dancing mice, the Smeenge, clown workshops and a cat called Yoghurt all have in common? They were all part of this year’s fantastic Spark Children’s Arts Festival of course!

This year’s Spark has been the biggest and best yet, and planning is already underway for next year. More families than ever attended Spark Festival events, with approximately 13,000 people enjoying the brilliant programme which included theatre, puppetry, dance, music, poetry, circus and art. With performances and events across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, The Spark lit up the region for families from 25th May until 7th June.

Children were treated to a wonderful programme of events this year with plenty of opportunities to get involved. Families were thrilled by Flhip Flhop hip hop theatre, went to the circus with Foolhardy Folk, built giant sculptures in the rain and even got knee deep in rice crispies at Babyfest!

Festival Director, Ellen Bianchini is delighted with the success of this year’s Spark:

“The festival was bigger and more ambitious than ever this year, and we have been delighted by the feedback from audiences. We tried some new events such as Babyfest, which was a big hit with over 1100 people attending, and Jazz for Juniors which had audiences dancing a conga and singing along with the greats of Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong. The international programme was fascinating, offering a very different kind of theatre to Leicester audiences, and we also brought international companies together with local artists and primary schools teachers for some training courses. All in all, a great year, which even the dreadful weather didn't manage to spoil!”

They say all good things must come to an end - but not for long! The Spark will be back next year with another fun-packed fortnight for families – and there are other events in the pipeline. So keep an eye on www.sparkfestival.co.uk or join the mailing list for updates on next year’s Spark and forthcoming events

The Spark Children's Arts Festival kicked-off in fantastically playful and messy style with yesterday's Babyfest at De Montfort Hall. The event was a great success, selling out in advance with over a thousand people enjoying a host of creative, fun activities for preschoolers.

Did you come to Babyfest? Do let us have you pictures and comments to admin@sparkfestival.co.uk

The Spark is all about families getting together and having fun in a playful and creative way. This year there are lots of free activities to come along to - experiment and discover your artistic side!

Be Inspired and Get Creative with the City Gallery’s free workshop for all the family. This is a wonderful opportunity to get stuck in as a family and make your own art out of all sorts of materials at the City Gallery Learning Space. Treat the room as your very own studio with stuff to use for free. Book in as a family or group of friends to play, paint, colour and create your own works of art to take home. The Learning Space is available for self directed sessions between Tuesday 26th May until Saturday 30th May between 11am and 5pm. Book your studio space in advance by calling: 0116 223 2060.

Fantastic free puppetry will be at Southfields Library on Saturday 30th May with A Stitch In Time at 2.30pm. A show about things or objects which we are given and which we pass on to our children, explored through puppets, objects and embroidery! Call 0116 299 5480 to reserve a place.If you need something big to look forward to, something Bigger is coming! See the incredible Artist in Action, Jon Hicks create a massive masterpiece before your very eyes. In his quirky, entertaining style, the artist draws the audience into the project as the work of art rapidly unfolds. On Saturday 30th Bigger will be at Evington Park and on Sunday 31st at Knighton Park and is absolutely free!

The beautiful walled gardens of Belgrave Hall are the perfect setting for the ever popular (and free!) Say it with Sculpture Weekend which takes place on 6th and 7th June. Led by a team of artists, the whole family can get hands on and create large and small 3D objects in different materials.