Out of the Box Festival celebrates 20 years of children’s entertainment

The 2012 Out of the Box Festival for Children will run from 12- 17 June in its twentieth year as a landmark cultural event. There will be 90 free events, 70 in-theatre performances, and more than 120 workshops.

QPAC Chief Executive John Kotzas said the Festival this year is significant “not only because Out of the Box is celebrating two decades of nurturing children’s creativity and imagination but also because it is the National Year of Reading. As an official partner of this initiative, our entire program will explore issues around arts and cultural literacy, what it means to read an artwork and why it’s important.

“In this context, it is especially meaningful that the centrepiece of the Out of the Box Festival is a new work based on The Flying Orchestra, a children’s book written and illustrated by Queensland author Clare McFadden,” said Mr Kotzas.

The Flying Orchestra, directed by Peter Wilson (The Red Tree) has been commissioned for Out of the Box and is a work of visual theatre that follows the journey of a magical orchestra that provides a soundtrack to some of life’s key moments.

Out of the Box 2012 will feature a program of events both ticketed and free including theatre performances, an interactive workshop program, a number of free outdoor events for families and a symposium fostering conversations enquiring into early childhood learning. It will also feature dedicated venues for parents with very children, offering morning sessions of baby yoga and informal conversation series with parenting authors and experts sharing their knowledge.

More than 50, 000 children, parents and carers are expected to participate in the six days of Out of the Box 2012.

For program, event, and booking details please visit www.outoftheboxfestival.com.au