When? March 1-April 23 | Event? Spring of Culture | Venue? Various venues throughout Bahrain
Ignite your inner artistic fever with the events taking place at the Spring of Culture festival. Indulge in theatre, art, poetry, dance and many other visually-spectacular performances.
Next month will signal the arrival of the 7th Spring of Culture festival in Bahrain, complete with a rich and diverse program that promises to excite people of all ages. This year’s festival will get you out and about and involved in the arts with more than 35 events taking place, each catering for different tastes. Included within the programme are intellectual seminars and performances such as singing, theatre, dance, visual arts, from regional and global artists and groups.
One of the festival’s primary programmes is in education. A number of international groups will be performing and conducting workshops for children, teachers and parents, including acts such as Dan Zanes & Friends, Tom Tom Crew and Tap Dogs. These educational events are all free, but places do need to be reserved in advance.
One visiting performance is Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical, which is based upon a popular American picture book and has been written for the stage by the same author, Mo Willems. “The story is highly engaging, for children aged three upwards, and captures simple and essential truths. An everyday incident is used and expanded into a lesson,” explains the Knuffle Bunny team. “We believe that the arts are important to the development of well-rounded and creative individuals in today’s global society. It gives children and young people a sense of their own particular culture as well as global culture. With a play, children can imagine themselves on the stage, and it becomes a way of looking at the world in a different way,” the team continues.
“We received an invitation from the Spring of Culture organisers and the team instantly recognised it would be great for all concerned. We hope that the children, teachers and parents enjoy the show as much as American audiences have,” they explain. Knuffle Bunny has been running since May 2010, a Kennedy Centre commission and has since toured throughout America and received positive feedback.
“We will also be participating in the education programme at the festival by leading workshops for young people and teachers to spread ideas and teaching methods about the arts,” outlines the team.
The festival is being organised this year by The Economic Development Board in joint collaboration with Sheikh Ebrahim Centre for Culture and Research, The Ministry of Culture, Albareh Art Gallery and Al Riwaq Art Space. The festival will support local charities and groups within the community programme, in particular by supporting orphaned and disabled children in Bahrain. They will be offered tickets to the shows or will be visited by the performers and organisers. The entire festival has also been created to be as ‘green’ as possible, with a huge emphasis on being environmentally friendly wherever possible.
Call 39 900-630 or visit www.springofculture.org
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