Our 2024 festival will take place Friday 11 October - Sunday 20 October, but as excited as we are to share every single detail with you, that will have to wait until September. (Well, we might have a few events we can announce this summer -- sign up to our newsletter to find out!) For now, we would love to share highlights from the rest of our year.
As well as delivering a world-class international festival in Galway each October, Baboró runs artistic projects for children and artist support programmes throughout the year. Last year we kicked off Creating Space, a two-year artist residency in Merlin Woods Primary School. We have also entered the third year of the Wonder Collective in partnership with Phillida Eves’ Rosán Sensory Adventures, reaching 480 children with intellectual disabilities and autism throughout 2022 and 2023. The GROW artist development programme supported 48 artists in 2023, and we also partnered with The Spark Arts for Children (UK) to support underrepresented artists.
As a charity we rely on the belief and support of our dedicated partners, funders, audiences and artists. Thank you to our brilliant volunteers, Children’s Panel, team and Board of Directors who work so hard to deliver for the children in our community. We simply couldn’t do it without you.
You can learn more about Baboró's recent work in our 2023 Year in Review or through the links below.
Children and Community
While the festival is the heart of our work for children and we do all we can to remove barriers to attendance, we know that it is not accessible for everyone. Our year-round activities have therefore grown, led by our Outreach Projects Manager who oversees robust arts engagement programmes and community-building initiatives.
This new role has ensured a significant expansion of our outreach efforts and inclusion measures, including new durational programmes.
Artist Development
Baboró has a long history of supporting creatives making work for children - whether they’re just getting curious about work for young audiences or have been creating it for years.
Our artist supports have grown steadily since 2017, with significant expansion in the last year, including new Irish and international partnerships, the development of work for children with additional needs and more inclusive and diverse programmes.
Festival
The festival champions every child’s right to experience and participate in the creative arts. We strive to present a festival programme where children see themselves and their stories reflected, where they see opportunities to one day grace those same stages and gallery walls.
The 27th festival presented 53 unique shows, exhibitions and workshops in venues, galleries, schools and libraries throughout the city and county over 10 days. Our audiences of babies, children and young people experienced moments of beauty and joy whilst being challenged by themes of friendship, grief, identity and autonomy.
In 2023 an audience of 17,314 children, families, schools and communities attended 53 unique events presented in 31 venues by 122 artists from Ireland, England, Spain, The Netherlands, Belgium and Australia.
Inclusion
Baboró prioritises inclusivity by working to remove barriers, both real and perceived, and creating spaces that are safe and welcoming, no matter the physical or intellectual challenges.
We substantially subsidise our ticket prices and offer free tickets to teachers, SNAs and community groups. We offer free events for schools and families and bring work directly into schools and libraries.
In 2023, we worked on maintaining and building new relationships with community organisations and charities to learn how to better serve our audiences’ needs.
