ORIGINALLY created as part of Limerick’s City of Culture in 2014, Bualadh Bos Children’s Festival has thrived in the last decade, and celebrates its tenth anniversary inspiring and engaging children, families, and teachers in the performing arts.
Led by festival curator Liam McCarthy, the festival promises two weeks of fun and creativity for children running from Wednesday October 2 to Saturday October 12.
Liam chatted with Limerick Post this week.
“This year, I’ve had the privilege of working closely with the Bualadh Bos Children’s Panel to shape the programme. Our goal is to involve as many children as possible, especially those who haven’t had the chance to experience Bualadh Bos before. We’re excited to showcase the best of Irish and international work for young audiences while introducing some brand-new, homegrown theatre.”
As Limerick’s only arts festival dedicated to children, this edition offers a packed programme for families. Galway’s Branar Téatar do Pháistí, a festival favourite, bring Story of a Day – Scéal Lae, a bilingual, music-filled performance on Thursday October 3 and Saturday October 5 at 6:30pm.
“I think they are the best company in Ireland at the work they do. It’s about a day in the life of this child. There is a string quartet and there’s also a huge projected animation with beautiful illustrations. (A similar vibe to the Christmas classic The Snowman)
“It’s actually premiering at our festival. They’re going to take it to the National Concert Hall and onto Galway later, but we’ve got the opening night which is great.”
Another play worth highlighting is Dead Letter Office, suitable for kids nine years and older playing on Saturday October 5.
The Dead Letter Office explores migration through an engaging and beautiful story about belonging and loss, and the different ways we find to connect with each other. We are introduced to Elizabeth, a Dead Letter Detective and knows everything there is to know about lost post. One day a mysterious package arrives and faced with the most difficult mystery of her career, Elizabeth is forced to make life-changing decisions.
“It touches on migration and connecting with other people. It’s sounds very serious, but it’s funny and beautiful, and lovely. It’s great that it’s presented for kids.”
Each year the festival gets children’s voices into the decision making for the following year.
“So I had about 12 or 13 kids that came along to everything last year, and they just gave feedback. We can see what they enjoy. And stuff that I learned that was missing was to try to do a dance show.”
The festival has partnered with Dance Limerick. On Saturday October 12, ‘Moving Words’ presented by Selma Daniel Dance is a story time and live dance performance event for young audiences that combines the art of contemporary dance and the reading of selected picture books, with the aim of making live dance performance accessible.
“It is great to partner with Dance Limerick – They’re really brilliant.’
“Another year, the kids said they wanted a disco bop vibe at the festival.
“So for the Family Day we are doing a Bualadh Bop in Belltable, it’s kinda like a disco with crafts, facepainting and storytelling. So it’s kind of a festival day. We take away the seats in Belltable and turn it into a dancefloor.”
The kids also came up with the idea of showing a film that their parents would have watched when they were their age.
“So every year we find an 80s film, it is the 40th anniversary of The Muppets Take Manhattan so that screens on Saturday 12.”
An essential element of the festival is the Pay It Forward Fundraising Campaign, which works to make the festival accessible to all children, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Partnering with Doras, the campaign will distribute tickets to families who might otherwise miss out. Donations can be made when purchasing tickets online, ensuring more children can enjoy the festival.
“What Pay it forward does is, we use it in different ways. We can buy tickets for people. Or for some kind of access issues, like a hot meal or transport. Sometimes there might be a Community Centre we work with. We can pay an artist and send them out to the school or to the Community Centre to do a workshop.
“We do all of this work anyway, but with the Pay It Forward support it means we can do more of it.”
Bookings are now open, and tickets are selling fast. Visit the website or call 061 953400 for more details.
For a full festival programme visit limetreebelltable.ie
