Family Zone
Families are a very important part of our festival community, so much so that we have a dedicated family area for parents and children to enjoy together.
The emphasis each year is firmly on participation and creativity. Kids get the opportunity to partake in a diverse range of activities and workshops. Whether it be drumming, dancing, foraging, circus skills, or lego bricks, there is something to ignite the imaginations of all who are lucky enough to attend.
Free Family Zone Activities
We are delighted to present Boyles own DAS Academy at this year’s festival. Bringing a wealth of experience gained in choreographing stage shows all around the world, Thomas and his team will run dance workshops throughout the weekend. This will culminate in a mini performance towards the end of the day.
Trisha, from the Sligo Woodland School, will offer a host of bushcraft activities that will foster creative connections with nature while imparting valuable skills and knowledge. This will include fire lighting skills, bow and arrow making and other nature-based crafts such as flag printing and ancestral lamps.
Fiona from Sun Dew Crafts will display her knitted creations that celebrate the natural world while also providing future generations with the opportunity to try their hand at creating a little piece for themselves.
One of the highlights of last year’s family area, the bemusement games will return again this year. Brought to you by Fuinnseog Woodland Crafts, the bemusement games are a collection of truly unique and mesmerizing games made exclusively from wood from Irish trees. Come and try your hand at draughts, snakes and ladders, pinball, marble mazes, marble runs, ring toss and many others.
The multi-talented folks from “Little Top Stars” will provide drop-in workshops where festival
goers can try various activities including juggling, spinning plates, diabolo, bucket stilts, hula
hoops and the ever-popular giant soap bubbles wands.
https://littletopstars.ie
We Drum Ireland will facilitate inclusive and interactive drum workshops. These start with a humorous and energetic warm up routine involving Body-Percussion and Hip Hop beats. The workshop will also include a demonstration and a brief journey around the world of drums, from Africa to Ireland. Everyone will then receive an instrument and we will learn to play a piece of high-energy Samba music from Brazil. Absolutely no previous musical experience is necessary.
John and his troupe from Our Voice FM will once again provide the soundtrack for the day’s activities. A firm favourite at last years festival, be sure to stop by and say hello as they love nothing more than to engage with those passing by the tent.
Baby Boppers will ensure that even the youngest attendees at Night and Day will have their musical tastes catered for. They’ll run music, movement and sensory activities for young children. The little ones can skip, hop, jump and twirl to the music with props such as scarfs, shakers, pom pom, ribbons, and parachute.
Nutritional therapist Emma Cooney will lead a walk around the forest where she will help people identify and collect some medicinal herbs. There will also be the opportunity to prepare and drink herbal teas using what has been gathered.
Kids love face painting. They love the way it transforms them into something new, something they love or a way they feel about themselves deep inside. It allows self-expression, triggers their imaginations, boosts self-esteem and engages their own creativity.
Adults equally love it, whether enjoying a festival-style eye design with lots of glitter, reliving their own childhood with the superhero design they always yearned for, or simply having the craic with the kids. Fierce Fun Faces will return to meet all your face painting needs this June.
Tuesday and her team from Willowbrook will guide festival goers in creating various festival accessories including masks, flags, and instruments. They will also lead a festival parade at the end of each day’s activities that will take in some of the countless magical locations around the festival site. See the link below for what they get up at their own place just outside Ballaghaderreen.
Ros Clay pottery will provide people with the opportunity to design and paint blank pottery pieces. A fun activity for all ages. Very mindful and therapeutic.
Young ones can stretch out their minds, bodies and imaginations with a fun hybrid of mindfulness, yoga & relaxation. Sessions may vary depending on participants but expect yoga games, dances, visualisation stories and confidence boosting affirmation play. Manage mayhem, mindfully with Manomaya
Family Zone Timetable
TOP TIPS FOR FAMILIES
- You are welcome to bring pushchairs and buggies but please be aware an all-terrain one is recommended.
- Loud music can be harmful to the ears so make sure your children have proper ear protection if you plan on visiting any of our stages throughout the Festival.
- Take a photo of your child every day in case you are separated. You can then show a safety volunteer what your child looks like and what they’re wearing that day.
- Show your kids what stewards look like in their hi-vis and tell them to present themselves to the nearest one if they get lost.
- You will be provided with a paper wristband for your child onto which you must write your mobile number. Our volunteers will use this to contact you in case of separation.
- Wearing battery powered fairy lights is a great idea to help not to lose little ones at night time (and it looks great!)
- Be prepared for all weather eventualities! It’s the west of Ireland so we can have blazing sunshine and torrential rain all in the same day! Make sure to pack those little wellies and waterproofs as well as sun cream and floppy hats.