The annual Octoburst! – A Children’s Festival at Esplanade – Theatres On The Bay returns this year with heaps of activities for kids from 7 to 9 October 2016!

In conjunction with this year’s Children day on Friday, 7 October, the young ones are invited to embark on an adventure with stories from all corners of the imagination together with specially curated ticketed performances to hands-on free workshops. The three-day fun-filled festival comes with theatre, dance, music performances, craft activities and workshops, making it the perfect festival to encourage play and family fun in celebration of Children’s Day! To find out more information, visit Octoburst! 2016 website.

Theatre For Kids

Main highlights in this festival are the two mesmerising performances namely Little Red Riding Hood By La Baracca – Testoni Ragazzi from Italy, who also performed at last year children’s festival. New in the bloc this year is The Secret Life of Suitcases By Lewis Hetherington and Ailie Cohen.

Little Red Riding Hood

Discover a new twist to the classic folktale Little Red Riding Hood as Actors Bruno Cappagli and Actress Carlotta Zini invites the audience to retrace Little Red Riding Hood’s path in the woods with new discoveries at every page turn. Taking turns to role-play as the Wolf, this light-hearted story tells the tale like never before. Highly recommended for children aged 3 and above.

The Secret Life of Suitcases

A suitcase has a mission and Larry loves working in an office. Discover a ride of thrill adventure when Larry in The Secret Life of Suitcases gets his world turned upside down by a fantastical flying suitcase. Find out what happened to Larry and his new-found suitcases in this funny and enchanting puppet show, recommended for children 4 years and above, including infants-in-arms.

Both theatrical shows will be showing at Esplanade Recital Studio from 7 to 9 Oct 2016, if you don’t want to miss them out, grab your tickets online now!

DANCE CLASSIC FOR KIDS

If your children have not yet been to dance performance, this year at Octoburst 2016, will be the right time and venue for kids to be introduced to Singapore Dance Theatre’s Dance Appreciation Series: Introduction to The Nutcracker, a specially condensed version of the classic ballet for young audiences. Children will be enticed into the journey of the well-loved characters like Clara, the Snow Queen, the Sugar Plum fairy and her Cavalier. There will also be a meet and greet session with the cast after the performance, so children are encouraged to come dressed in their favourite costumes!

Catch this one-hour dance classic only on the weekend of Sat, 8 October at Esplanade Concert Hall, and recommended for children aged 2 and above.

WORKSHOPS FOR FAMILY BONDING

The best way to send time together is doing things together, and what better ways to form closer bonds with your kids during this Children’s Day Celebration? Octoburst! 2016 , the Children Festival have three fun workshops all lined up for some quality family time.

Parent-Child Workshop: Animate-a-Story: Learn how to tell a story through animation! In this parent-child workshop, children will learn to use brainstorming and storyboarding techniques to weave a story, before creating their illustrations. After the workshop, they get to receive a short animated clip created with the illustrations they were taught during the workshop, recommended for children aged 7 and above.

Parent-Child Workshop: Dip & Dye: Parents with Children aged 5 and above, release your creativity juice in this 2-hour workshop, and customised your own handmade cotton tote bag by using the traditional method of tie-dye! To create vibrant colours on the tote bag, you will get to learn the techniques of scrunching, twisting and dipping anyhow you want.

Parent-Child Workshop: Sculpt-a-Story: Create interesting paper sculptures of animals or nature, inspired by well-loved stories and fables. Learn more about paper sculptures and the different techniques in creating relief artwork as you get crafty in this hands-on workshop. This workshop is recommended for children 4 years and above.

To get your tickets on these workshops, better hurry as they are running out soon!

DRAWING COMPETITION FOR KIDS

Start grooming your little Picasso early through On the spot – Drawing Competition especially on the first day of the festival – 7 October, and have their art displays on the walls of Esplanade as well as stand a chance to win attractive prizes! The Drawing Competition is open to children aged between 5 – 12 years old, and the theme will be kept secret, only to revealed on the day itself.

Giving the younger ones (2 years old to 4 years old) an opportunity to have fun with drawing , they can also decorate colouring sheets and bring it home later! To register online or if you have any further questions, you mail email them at octoburst@esplanade.com.

MORE FREE ACTIVITIES AT ESPLANADE

Taking place around Esplanade from 7 to 9 October 2016 are free activities to enrich the young ones that consists of crafting stations, outdoor art installations, roving acts, storytelling sessions, mobile library and free music and theatrical performance for all! For a three day full of exciting activities to choose from, we’ve picked some highlights not to be miss!