Brief History
Baboró was originally conceived and nurtured under the auspices of Galway Arts Festival and first presented a Baboró programme in 1994. By 1997, to address the needs of children who may not usually be included in cultural events, it was decided to create a festival independent of Galway Arts Festival, offering a fully formed multi-arts programme to schools during the month of October in Galway and surrounding areas.
Baboró is Ireland’s flagship arts festival devoted exclusively to children and families. It brings the most diverse selection of the finest in performing arts from Ireland and around the world to its annual one-week festival in Galway. The festival programme varies from year to year to bring a wide diversity of exposure to the arts especially created for young audiences and their families.
The festival helps to break down obstacles to inclusion that schools might have in attending events outside of their immediate area by offering, in the beginning:
- Low ticket prices
- Free Teacher Places
- A 50% bus subsidy and
- An outreach programme that travelled to their schools or communities.
Since then, our 13 years of development have shown us many ways in which we can support schools and families in accessing the arts for all children, by:
Direct Cultural Provision for young people & families through:
- Organisation of an annual, week-long, international multi-arts festival for children and families in Galway city and county in October
- Comprehensive Creative Engagement Programme for children and adults, to connect with the festival programme
- Organisation of Baboró on Tour – dissemination of performances by visiting artists to other areas in Galway city and county
- Network Touring Initiative with other venues and festivals to disseminate international performances around the country both before and after Baboró
- Bus Subsidy for schools attending performances
Bringing new awareness and knowledge to Teachers, Parents, Children and Young People through:
- Organisation of platforms for discussion around development, dissemination and creation of quality work for children and families
- Development and distribution of learning tools (i.e. Teacher Packs) for educators
- Free Chatbacks post-performance for Schools audiences
Encouraging the creation of quality arts experiences in Ireland through:
- Advocacy work in the area of cultural provision for children and families, and the provision of improved cultural infrastructure in Galway
- Development of the Baboró Arts Team – professional artists who work with Baboró to develop Baboró’s Creative Engagement Programme and their skills at the same time
- Mentoring of artists working in Galway in the area of arts for children
- Acting as a resource for other festivals and venues, making access to Irish-based organisations easier
- Providing a platform for Irish arts organisations to meet during the highest profile children’s arts festival in Ireland, held in Galway
Future plans include:
Disseminating Irish work nationally and internationally through
Creation of opportunities for discussion and networking during Baboró festival – specifically
- During the International Conference on Arts for Early Years
- With the assistance of Culture Ireland inviting and hosting Key International Presenters to attend performances by Irish companies
- Offering a platform to those companies at an Arts Market, to be attended by more than 25 Key Presenters/Delegates, both international and national
Highlighting the development in access to Arts for Young People over the last 13 years through
The development of a Children's Festivals Website featuring 10 International Arts Festivals for Children and Families, all taking place in Ireland, in October. This website will be launched in mid-September 2009.