Kids Euro Festival 2008 : A celebration of European Arts and Cultures for Kids

© Kids Euro Festival

• from: 09.10.2008
• to: 09.11.2008
• In: Washington DC (United States)

One of the country's largest performing arts festivals for children took place in Washington, D.C., when Kids Euro Festival - starring the most talented European children's entertainers - presented more than 150 free events around the city from October 9 through November 9.

Designed for children ages six through twelve, Kids Euro Festival was staged through the cooperation of the 27 Washington-based European Union embassies and more than a dozen major local cultural institutions. It featured artists in almost every performing genre, whose talents ranged from the charmingly traditional to cutting-edge contemporary. Bubble-blowers, a virtual orchestra, improvisational storytelling, puppeteers, dancers, and acrobats were just a few of the exciting performers which appeared during almost four weeks of artistic adventures, with no passport required.

These free public performances (more than 150) took place at family-friendly Washington venues, including the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage, Shakespeare Theatre's Harman Hall, the Strathmore Mansion, the Atlas Performing Arts Center, National Geographic, THEARC, the Goethe-Institut, House of Sweden, and La Maison Française. Screenings of European children's films and reading workshops presenting favorite European children's stories rounded out a month of diverse and imaginative cultural journeys.

In addition to the public performances, Kids Euro Festival brought presentations and performances to public and private schools, and hospitals.

Kids Euro Festival is the first time the local European Union community has joined together to present an event of this scale. Launched as a cultural initiative designed to coincide with the French Presidency of the EU, the hope is that Kids Euro Festival will become an annual celebration.

Kids Euro Festival offered "an unique way for young audiences to experience the rich creative heritage, cultural life, and traditions of our 27 European Union nations," said Pierre Vimont, Ambassador of France to the United States. It helped "to create fresh, vivid, and long-lasting bonds between children on both sides of the Atlantic."

The Kids Euro Festival web site (www.kidseurofestival.org) will serve as a fun and educational resource before, during, and after the festival, with content that not only promotes the festival itself, but also introduces users - including teachers searching for materials to supplement their classroom curriculums - to the artistic and cultural traditions of the 27 EU member states.

• Sources: La Maison Française
• Updated: 23.12.2008

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