Trying out the trapeze at The Forks during Festival of Fools.
It`s spring break and it’s time to do some clowning around.
Kids have been checking off the days on their calendars with anticipation of the 14th Annual Festival of Fools, an initiative of the Winnipeg International Children’s Festival Inc.
Plenty of clowning around at The Forks this week.
Everyone is welcome to participate in this free family event March 29th to April 6th at The Forks Market Centre Circus Circle and join in all the fun and foolishness you can handle.
If you do not have enough silliness and comedy at home, three unique performances are offered daily from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm, where you can watch jugglers, clowns, comedians, puppets, clowns on stilts, aerial and acrobatic performances, have your face painted, learn how to make animals out of balloons, along with hilarious shows and other surprises along the way.
You can also take part in one of the circus workshops (Monday through Friday) or see how brave you are and try out the swinging trapeze workshops (Saturday and Sunday). Register early at The General Store / Information Table for workshops. Refer to this link for schedule of events and performers.
Closely linked with the Circus And Magic Partnership (C.A.M.P.) social circus program, Neal Rempel, Executive Producer of the Winnipeg International Children’s Festival Inc., said that the Festival of Fools started 14 years ago because, “…basically I felt that we were missing an opportunity by having so many great artists in town (for C.A.M.P.) whose work wasn’t available to the general public.”
Rempel commented that the bulk of the artists performing at the Festival of Fools are also teaching at C.A.M.P. at Gordon Bell High School; with their multiple skills they have enough artists to cover off the workshops of the artists while they leave the C.A.M.P. to perform at The Forks.
Kids can learn the skill it takes to swing on a trapeze.
The talent for this year’s C.A.M.P. is brought here from all over Canada and the United States with one artist from the United Kingdom.
It is truly a juggling act to organize these events.
Robin Chestnut, a two time Canadian champion juggler from Winnipeg and instructor for C.A.M.P. has been performing for many years. He will be going back and forth from the Festival of Fools to C.A.M.P.
Clowning around is serious business. In conversation with this professional clown, he mentioned that he went to a special School for Clowns.
Chestnut, along with other artists, performs for the love of it and says it takes a lot of practice and persistence to become a professional performer and to reach the skill level of these talented artists. They like to see the children smile, creating laughter and joy along the way.
Scotiabank provides additional support increasing the time frame from 6 to 9 days for this year’s Festival of Fools. The Festival of Fools would also not happen without the many volunteers and artists from near and far.
The Festival of Fools helps to relieve the stress of parents who are thinking of ways they can spend time with their children during spring break.
All are welcome to come and see the talented pool of artists Winnipeggers and the world has to offer.
The 2014 Winnipeg International Children’s Festival Inc. events are listed below. They are pre-registered events and spaces are filling up fast, so you may want to register as soon as possible.
32nd Annual Kidsfest! – June 5 – 8, 2014 (Clown 4Kids Fun Run – June 8)
2014 Northern MB C.A.M.P. Program – March 24 – 28
2014 Festival of Fools At The Forks – March 29 – April 6 (free foolishness for the whole family)
2014 Winnipeg C.A.M.P. Program – March 31 – April 4
2014 Summer C.A.M.P. Program – July 14 – 18
There is whole new world of opportunity out there for children to explore and create some fun while learning skills to enhance their confidence. This kind of activity also helps them feel good about what they can do for fun as they make new friends along the way.
