Our annual Festival continues to be Baboró’s beating heart – a celebration of all our work and a gathering place for our community.

Objectives

• Present a range of exciting, inspiring shows, exhibitions and workshops from around the country and the world.
• Strive to ensure that all of our audience members see themselves and their stories reflected in the festival programme.
• Work hard to make sure that everyone feels that they belong at the festival by breaking down barriers to attendance, and bringing the festival directly into schools and communities.
• Demonstrate, through our model, the value of investment in high quality arts for children, and advocate for continued investment in work for children.

Outcomes

Baboró will continue to be recognised as one of the world’s foremost arts festivals dedicated to children. Our artistic programmes will maintain a high level of quality and continue to push the boundaries of work made for, and presented to, children. We will have broken down barriers to attendance and improved the reach of the festival into the community. Our work will demonstrate the value of investing in the arts for children.

Children in all their diversity and brilliance will be at the centre of our programmes and activities.

Objectives

• Take children seriously, listen to their ideas and incorporate them into how we work and the programmes we create.
• Reflect the diversity of children living in Ireland in our programming and the accessibility of our offerings.
• Invest in relationships with schools and community groups across Galway city and county to create pathways for teachers and families to connect
  with Baboró and encourage their children towards ongoing engagement with the arts.
• Build real connection with families and community groups that are currently underrepresented in arts participation and enable their meaningful engagement in the Baboró community and wider arts scene.

Outcomes

Children’s voices will have informed the development of our organisation and our programmes. More children living in Ireland will see themselves reflected in our programmes. We will have expanded our school and community networks and deepened our relationships with children, teachers and families in our community.

Artists will be supported to make exciting, innovative work for children and young people.

Objectives

• Mentor and support artists, creatives and educators who are exploring and developing theatre, dance, music and visual art for young audiences, or are interested in doing so.
• Encourage artists to tell compelling stories that reflect and inspire children and young people.
• Invest in specific programmes to support the development of underrepresented voices in our sector.
• Facilitate rich learning opportunities between artists based in Ireland and their international peers.
• Contribute to the growth and sustainability of viable careers for artists and arts workers in the arts for young audiences sector.

Outcomes

We will have reviewed our artist support programmes and enhanced our offerings to artists and creatives. The artists we support will reflect the diversity of children living in Ireland today. We will have expanded our international partnerships to enhance our programmes. We will have contributed to diversifying and enriching the national ecosystem of artists and creatives.

The environmental and biodiversity crisis will be reflected in the way we work and the stories we tell.

Objectives

• Develop an Environmental Sustainability Policy that will guide our work.
• Embed sustainability practices in our operations and events in order to minimise our environmental impact.
• Our creative programmes will reflect children’s curiosity and passion for the world around them.

Outcomes

We will have developed an Environmental Sustainability Policy and begun to implement that policy so that we are accountable for the impact our work has on the environment. We will have introduced practices to reduce Baboró’s carbon footprint. We will listen to children’s natural curiosity and concerns for the environment and strive to reflect these in our programmes, with a proactive approach and hope for the future.

Invest in our staff team and build a resilient organisation that reflects the breadth and quality of our work.

Objectives

• Create and resource a staffing structure that reflects our year-round activity.
• Ensure that the diversity and richness of Irish society is reflected across our Board, staff and volunteers.
• Invest in collaborative relationships that support our work and enhance our values.
• Develop our funding model to enable longer term planning.
  

Outcomes

We will have expanded our staff team to ensure that we are adequately resourced to carry out Baboró’s work to the highest quality. Our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Policy will have guided our work to improve the diversity of our team. We will continue to partner with individuals and organisations that share our values and help us achieve our strategic goals. We will have diversified our income streams so that we can adequately plan for the future.