Advanced Look: Belfast Children's Festival

After a years absence in which their (lack of) presence was well and truly felt, Young at Art's Belfast Children's Festival is back next month with a week long program of events designed to suit a range of ages. From 9th to 16th March (a little earlier than previous years, perhaps due to last years reduced activities) the festival will include the usual mix of educational and creative shows, projects and exhibitions, many of which promote the same sort of values I try to include on EcoLifeNI.

The program dropped through my letter box earlier this week, so I just thought I'd do a quick look ahead to some of the things that will be on my radar. Including my own, nearly three year old offspring, and the niece (five) and the nephew (one), this festival should be an interesting one in terms what events are suitable for which children. The Bethster is now a little too old for the Baby Rave, but we'll be taking the boys down to that, held in the Waterfront Hall on the 10th and 11th and with this years theme being Ska (one of my sister's most hated of musical genres) it should make for an interesting session of music, dance and activity.

I'll also be hoping to catch a few more plays and performance based events; the wee man has finally gotten to the age where we can attend these sort of things without worrying about him wandering off or loosing interest. So, that said, I'm currently looking at Wobble (An Cultúrlann, Wednesday 14th) a theatre experience designed specifically for under 4s and Dot (The Baby Grand, Thursday 15th), a visual performance based around shapes and colours. For the older Ms, there's Once Upon a Time (Assembly Rooms, Thursday 15th) a interactive theatre events based around fining a missing story and A Giant is coming (also in the Assembly Rooms at various times from Friday 9th to Wednesday 14th), which features installations and live performances about what it means to be a 'giant'. This event is held as part of the 2012 Cultural Olympiad event 'Land of Giants'.

As with previous years, the performances have a small charge normally ranging between £3-£5 and more details can be found on via the Young at Art website at the end of the article. However, despite tough funding times for the arts community, the festival is still managing to include a few free events on their program. Linking up with World Book Day there are a fair few literature based events that are free of charge, from the Tea and Tales/Sos Agus Scealta running throughout the week at the The Assembly Rooms, and a big favourite of ours from two years past, The Cardboard Cities (see video) will be making a welcome return.


Cardboard cities - a tour from caragh on Vimeo.


The Children's Festival really is a gem in the crown of  Belfast's yearly cultural program and it is so great to see it back this year. You can find more information on times and tickets, as well as advice for people involved in child development and care, by visiting www.youngatart.co.uk

Deck the Halls

Well first up, sincere apologies for the dip in posting. I had some security issues in November that interfered with my gmail and blogger, but they appear to be rectified now. Also, apologies to anyone who may have been trying to contact me about articles, ads and guest posts; emails regarding these things were more than likely affected too.

I've a few articles lined up over the next few weeks on the usual mix of EcoLife topics, but seeing as we're in the last week of November and people are starting to get that little bit Christmassy, I just thought I'd share a few of my current favourite Christmas decorations and supplies sites.

First up is Mrs Christmas. This amazing online store is a distributor of high quality baubles and decorations made by traditional methods in Germany and Poland. As well as featuring some really unique designs, they also stock retro look decorations that will have you rushing back to your childhood and welcoming ghosts of Christmas pasts to your door. They don't come cheap mind you (some of the more intricate hand blown gift set can cost upwards of £60), but they are the kind of long term investment that you can use time and again and pass down through the generations.

For something a little more modern and funky, then you certainly can't go wrong with the series of recycled tree ornaments from Nigel's Eco Store. Made from various bits and pieces  including old CDs and circuit boards, they prove that recycled doesn't have to exclude style, nor does it have to cost a small fortune, with most costing around £3. Even if you're not looking to top up your tree this year, I still suggest checking out the page as it's chocked with eco friendly ideas for gifts as well.


And of course, to save on the carbon footprint of mail ordering or shopping, you can always make your own decorations, with a little bit of help from the little people if you have them (that's children by the way, not elves). Youtube is a great place to get step by step instructions, like the one below, which should mean even those who don't consider themselves all that artistic can still give it a go.

Big Green Weekend

Conservation Volunteers NI will be holding a free family fun day as part of the Big Green Weekend in the Ormeau Park, Belfast next Sunday (23rd October). From 12-3pm families can come along and enjoy a range of activities including face painting, bouncy castle, displays from Belfast Circus School, craft stalls selling wood and natural products such as make your own birdhouses, guided nature walks, healthy cooking and home composting demonstrations and a sponsored Tree Spotting Challenge to raise funds for important conservation projects (register for the Tree Hunt here http://www.cvni.org.uk/).

The event is part of a European wide weekend program designed to raise awareness of the work of conservationists volunteers and Green heroes. You can find out more by visiting the NI site above, or BTCV and Belfast City Council.

And closely following the Big Green Weekend, Botanic Gardens will be holding their yearly Enchanted Garden Event, nightly from 7-10pm on the 26th -29th October. Now a regular fixture on the local family events calender and part of the Belfast Festival at Queens, I've been meaning to check this out for years, but circumstances (and a dash of laziness) have always got in the way. This year I definitely going, to see fairies, goblins and a host of  fantastical creatures come alive among the trees, in a display of light and music. Very popular by all accounts, you are advised to book in advance, through the festival link below. Tickets are £3.

http://www.belfastfestival.com

Green Scenes

This Wednesday sees the start of a programme of environmentally themed films courtesy of the Institute for a Sustainable World at Queen's University Belfast. Screening each week between now and December in the Seminar Room, 63 University Road, the selection includes a mix of high profile documentaries and local productions. It also includes A Sense of Wonder (26th October), a look at the life and work of Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring and pioneer of the environmentalist movement.

A Sense of Wonder Trailer from Film Sprout on Vimeo.

For more information, contact Dr John Barry j.barry@qub.ac.uk, full programme details below.

5^th October (from 6.30pm): The Powerdown Show: The Powerdown Show is a 10-part TV series that takes a fresh and engaging look at the community responses to the converging challenges of climate change and peak oil.  

12^th October: The Yes Men Fix the World: A screwball true story about two gonzo political activists who, posing as top executives of giant corporations, lie their way into big business conferences and pull off the world's most outrageous pranks

19^th October: Fierce Light: When Spirit meets Action: Acclaimed filmmaker Velcrow Ripper sets out to discover the power that is released when spirituality and activism meet. Sparked by what Gandhi called “soul force” and Martin Luther King called “love in action,” Ripper spotlights remarkable individuals who are taking action from the heart.

26^th October: A Sense of Wonder: When pioneering environmentalist Rachel Carson published Silent Spring in 1962, the backlash from her critics thrust her into the centre of a political maelstrom. Despite her love of privacy, Carson's convictions and her foresight regarding the risks posed by chemical pesticides forced her into a very public and controversial role. Struggling with cancer, Carson recounts with both humor and anger the attacks by the chemical industry, the government, and the press as she focuses her limited energy to get her message to Congress and the American people.

2^nd November: The Pipe: A compelling documentary film four years in the making, The Pipe tells the story of the small Rossport community which has taken on the might of Shell Oil and the Irish State. The discovery of gas off this remote coastal village has led to the most dramatic clash of cultures in modern Ireland.The Pipe is a story of a community tragically divided, and the prospect of a pipeline that can bring economic prosperity or destroy of a way of life shared for generations.

9^th November: The Corporation: An epic in length and breadth, this documentary aims at nothing less than a full-scale portrait of the most dominant institution on the planet Earth in our lifetime--a phenomenon all the more remarkable, if not downright frightening, when you consider that the corporation as we know it has been around for only about 150 years. The movie performs a running psychoanalysis of this entity with the characteristics of a prototypical psychopath: a callous unconcern for the feelings and safety of others, an incapacity to experience guilt, an ingrained habit of lying for profit, etc.

16^th November: Capitalism: A Love Story: Michael Moore's didactic documentary style is actually a source of inspiration in Capitalism: A Love Story. This film, which explores the history of incongruence between American capitalism and democracy. Here Moore employs his trademark tactics to make a satirical documentary that functions as a film-based, grassroots political strategy meant to provoke revolt.

23^rd November: Inside Job: This priceless documentary presents a devastating expose of the staggering Wall Street swindle that caused the economic meltdown of 2008.

30^th November: Supersize Me: Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, rejected five times by the USC film school, won the best director award at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival for this alarmingly personal investigation into the health hazards wreaked by our fast food nation. Under extensive medical supervision, Spurlock subjects himself to a steady diet of McDonald's cuisine for 30 days just to see what happens. In less than a week, his ordinarily fit body and equilibrium undergo dark and ugly changes.

7^th December: Century of the Self: The Century of the Self tells the untold and sometimes controversial story of the growth of the mass-consumer society in Britain and the United States. How was the all-consuming self created, by whom, and in whose interests?

14^th December: What would Jesus Buy?: Follows Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping Gospel Choir as they go on a cross-country mission to save Christmas from the Shopocalypse: the end of mankind from consumerism, over-consumption and the fires of eternal debt!  Through retail interventions, corporate exorcisms, and some good old-fashioned preaching, Reverend Billy reminds us that we have lost the true meaning of Christmas. 

Huffington Post UK Launched

Following the launch of Huffington Post Canada, Huffington Post UK launched earlier this week, the second biggest expansion outside the US for this unashamedly liberal online media site. From Arianna Huffington herself, came a gushing statement of affection for the UK, writing in her inaugural UK blog post:

"I am delighted to be in London today for the first Huffington Post launch outside of North America. Britain has always held a very special place in my heart. I started (and finished) college here. I started (and finished) my first serious love affair here.."


If you don't know Huffington yet, the site is a mix of politics, media, business, entertainment, lifestyle, green and world news and several blogs. Huffington UK promises much of the same, albeit with a domestic angle. 

For many this will be a welcome addition to UK's news market, especially in light of recent events surrounding the unethical methods employed by News of the World 'journalists' and the implications for News International on the whole, that have been such a hot topic this week. While for others, it has been met with a rather more mixed reception, with the Guardian criticising the apparent lack of invention and poor aesthetic appeal, though one can perhaps speculate that elements of rivalry and competition have had much to play in that assessment.

I'll be waiting to see how the UK version works out, but as it stands, welcome a little bit more liberal competition to UK web. In a week where we are lambasting the awful techniques employed by newspapers to feed an appetite for scandal, it is perhaps worth remembering that it is also readership and response that shapes the face of UK journalism, not just the results of official inquiries and bouts of public outrage.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/environment/

Small Hats, Big Knit

The Age NI Big Knit are once again appealing for knitters across Northern Ireland to help support the important work they do with older people and senior groups, by donating little wool hats to adorn the tops of Innocent Smoothie products.

For every hat knitted and sold with an Innocent product in Sainsbury's, 25p will go to Age NI. Last year volunteer knitters managed to knit 41,000 hats, with this year's target up to 50,000. The charity are asking individuals and groups to get involved to help meet the amount and there will be prizes for the most original and creative designs. It's a great chance for the local arts and crafts community to show off their talents, or perhaps for parents, a great time to teach a valuable skill to children (or even brush up on their on own lapsed skills, as is the case with myself).


Anyone interested in contributing should register by contacting  Dorothy McConkey in the Fundraising Team on 028 9024 5729 or email dorothy.mcconkey@ageni.org,  and should look to have their hats finished by the beginning of October. Knitting Patterns ( beginners, intermediate and advanced) and more information available online, by visiting the website 

Age NI are also in the middle of a search for Northern Ireland's Grandparent of the Year 2011, in association with Conswater Shopping Centre. The contest asks children to nominate grannies and grandas they feel deserve to be recognised as the best, outlining why in no more than 200 words and attaching a photo or drawing. You can find out more information by visiting the website linked above.

Big Lunch Weekend

In 2009 the Eden Project started the Big Lunch, a national event aimed at getting as many people as possible across the whole of the UK to have lunch with their neighbours in a simple act of community, friendship and fun. This year, due to a change in date, Northern Ireland is getting in on the act, with around 100 street parties, picnics and community events planned across the country this Sunday, the 5th June. 

Below are just a few of the featured events. You can check out the rest by visiting the Big Lunch website

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Big Lunch, Big Picnic (12-2pm, Ormeau Park, Belfast)

The 5th June is also World Environment Day, and this Picnic in the Park will have an eco theme. Participating in the Big Lunch Big Bunting challenge, children and parents will have the chance to create unique and alternative bunting from old material, and spot prizes will been given out to those who can offer some of the best tips and ideas for green living. There will be music, story telling and demonstrations and samples from local businesses, traders and producers.

For more information check out the Facebook event

Playtrail Big Lunch Fun Day, (Starts at 12-5pm £5 per family, Racecource Rd, Derry)

Playtrail will host their 1st 'Big Lunch' Event to bring families together to inspire a deeper sense of community and build on existing community activities. The event will have a Family Fun Day appeal, offering something for all, from toddlers to grandparents. Activities will include play activities, bouncy castles, clowns & face painters, themed Forest School activities, international cookery demonstrations, team challenges and wildlife & well being projects.

The Consortium hopes to work closely with a range of local community groups and Derry City Council to highlight the wealth of local talent and the diversity within the rich and vibrant local community. The focus is on children & young people. Details are available through the Playtrail website and Facebook page.

Parkanaur Garden Centre, Dungannon

Parkanaur GC are organising a little get together as a Grow your Own Big lunch event. Along with the local college they have organised a day where people can learn a bit more about growing their own vegetables and get some free gardening advice. Please contact 07801 849884

Can I get a ReFound?

So last week we had World of Kitsch's Clare blogging about the wonders of retro furniture, but today we're taking it to the next level in re-usability with a focus on an amazing project for upcycling and second life items for the home. Based here in N. Ireland ReFound takes the old and turns it into new, with the help of some very talented, visionary artists. Visit their website and you'll see the ethos "one man's trash is another man's treasure" as the basis for the ReFound concept. Furniture found in auctions, markets, car-boot sales or donated by friends and supporters, is given a new home until a ReFound artist has chosen a vintage piece to be restyled with a more contemporary feel. The group will also revamp personal items that people know have seen better days but can't bare to part with.

Below, with before and after pictures, ReFound artist Ryan O'Reilly talks about the piece he prepared as part of the initiative. 

"In an ongoing photographic and printmaking project called ‘Day or Night’, I have been documenting remnants of signage, typography and geometric patterns found amongst urban and post-industrial environments, creating prints based on these forms and fragments.

This piece immediately interested me with the opportunity to turn a tarnished commercial object into a decorative piece of furniture. I wanted to reference it's original purpose as a retail shipping crate and included lettering collected from shopfronts and factories across Belfast.

I enjoy the juxtaposition of the traditional and modern in interior design. The painted lid and additional tapered legs are inspired by atomic age furniture while the piece is finished with a Victorian letterpress block (a 288pt Gothic N by DeLittle, York for those interested)." 

Ryan O'Reilly is a designer and illustrator based in Belfast. Interested in combinations of music and visual art, he has curated audiovisual exhibitions ‘Oh No! Ulster’s Hidden Reverse’ at the Black Box and ‘Warm Moving Bodies’ at Ormeau Baths Gallery. Ryan has also initiated a broad range of events in his home city including the monthly Black Market art and craft fair, Bop Yestrum club night and many live music performances as a member of the Ordinary Days collective. He is founder and curator of Oscillations, a festival of new international music, art and film. 


Contact: ryan@rinky.org


You can help support starving artists like Ryan, by visiting http://www.refoundonline.com/available.php and purchasing items on offer. The arts always gets hit hard at times of recession, so supporting initiatives like these that are both creative and eco friendly, is doubly important. The artists also provide a little insight into what inspired them with regards to each piece, a nice little touch to what is a rather lovely sight.

Spring into Action Week 2: Get Festive

In the second part of Spring into Action I'm encouraging families to get festive. Yes, as the nights grow longer and the sun heats up, festival and carnival season is approaching. There are tonnes of child friendly events here in Belfast, though we're sadly lacking this years Children's Festival, which will return in March 2012 (don't worry though, Young at Art are still staging a few events this year, including the awesome Baby Rave).

Tomorrow is of course St Patrick Day and Belfast will be staging their annual carnival parade in the City Centre, and there will be events held in other cities across the world to mark the occasion. There will also be a Leprechaun Hunt taking place in the Ormeau Park in South Belfast on Saturday, proving that there is more to St Patrick's Day than major piss ups and can be about families too.

And on Sunday (20th March) why not dance away that hangover and experience Ireland's largest Holi Festival at St George's Market. The traditional Indian festival marking the arrival of Spring is organised by Arts Ekta and will feature a packed, show-stopping, fun-filled day of entertainment including live music and dance, international food and a craft market. Among the performers are Desi Brave Hearts, Scotland's top Bollywood fusions group, Balle! Shava!, an energetic Punjabi folk dancing group, as well as ArtsEkta's very own South Asian Dance Academy.

The main highlight of the event will be the colour powder party, where visitors will get the opportunity to throw brightly coloured powder at one another in a party atmosphere among friends. So don't be wearing anything fancy, for things will get bright and messy.

The event runs from 1-6pm and admission is £1 (under 16s must be accompanied by an adult and you are advised to come early to avoid disappointment).  

You can find out more by visiting the Arts Ekta Facebook Page

Photos used with kind permission by Arts Ekta