News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: APRIL 18, 2023
MEDIA CONTACT: Zita Nyarady l 416-908-8151 l communications@weefestival.ca

WeeFestival Arts & Culturefor Early Years’s2023 Edition Offers a Feast of Engaging Arts for
the Youngest Theatregoers Over Four Weeks.

The 2023 WeeFestival will launch a month-long citywide celebration of unforgettable artistic encounters for early childhood from May 16-June 11. The four-week dynamic and diverse program of performances and events for children newborn to six years olds features music, dance, puppetry performances in English, French, or with no words at all!

The 7th since the festival’s launch in 2014, features seven small-scale, intimate and aesthetically-rich performances from artists and companies from around the world and across the Country.

For preschoolers, opening week features exquisite puppetry and live music with String from le Mouton carré (France) which plays over the May holiday weekend followed by Echoing Crest, an imaginative oceanic world of rollicking sea shanties and live painting on stage by les Chemins errants (Quebec). Old Man and the River, joins the festival after a week at the Ottawa Children’s Festival, with performances in multiple locations.

For infants and toddlers, WeeFestival is delighted to share four sensory-rich and immersive performances featuring live music, dance, and design. Acclaimed musician and arts education specialist Emmanuelle Lizére (Québec) brings two of her creations- Babula Laina and Tintinnabule, while the unique collaboration between Indigenous, Polish, and French artists invites audiences to experience a performance underneath the trees in an outdoor piece G’zaagiin maleńki-I Promise You a Forest from Voyageurs Immobiles, In the final week, **BB **by the acclaimed choreographer Makiko Ito with her ensemble of musicians and dancers will engage very young audiences in a magical and transformative interactive performance from Wonderland Collective (Netherlands).

Artistic Director Lynda Hill says: “In a city of festivals, WeeFestival is the only contemporary arts festival dedicated to our very youngest citizensof Toronto! We’re beyond excitedto share these unforgettable performances with young children and their grownups. This year’s four-week format stretches out over time and geography in order to reach schools and families in five different neighborhoods and to give our very young audiences an opportunity to experience a different show each weekend and the time to reflect in between!”

In addition to the featured performances, WeeFestival will offer a range of special events and initiatives engaging schools, daycares, families with interactive workshops, creative skills workshops for Early Childhood Educators, and a three day conference for professional artists and theatre for young audience researchers. Full details of all special events will be available on the festival website by May 1, 2023.

WeeFestival will take place at Toronto’s Tarragon Theatre Extraspace and The Spadina Theatre of Alliance Française
in the Annex, The Redwood Theatre in the Upper Beaches, Native Earth’s AKI Studio in Regent Park, SmallWorld Centre near Queen West, and Assembly Hall, next to Colonel Samuel Smith Park in Etobicoke. Finally, Theatre Aquarius with Centre Francophone Hamilton and the Aurora Cultural Centre will offer WeeFestival performances for their audiences in Hamilton and Aurora respectively.

Le Théâtre français de Toronto, returns this edition as the WeeFestival’s Francophone Programme Partner supporting efforts to reach Francophone and francophile families and students.

Full schedule/details below or at https://weefestival.ca/box-office/

For general information regarding the 2023 edition of the WeeFestival please visit www.weefestival.ca