The Northern Arts and Cultural Centre (NACC) hosted its annual children’s festival called Children’s Festival of Silliness last weekend, featuring a puppet show from Vancouver and a variety of activities for kids and families.
The festival, which has been running since 2011, aims to introduce children to different arts disciplines and foster their creativity and curiosity. This year, the festival focused on puppetry.
The main attraction was a puppet show called Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch, performed by the Axis Theatre Company from Vancouver. The show tells the story of Mr. Hatch, a lonely and unhappy man who receives a heart-shaped box of chocolates from a mysterious sender. The gift transforms his life and makes him realize the importance of love and friendship.
“I think we need more love than ever,” said Marie Coderre, executive and artistic director of NACC. “And I think also the art discipline, puppetry, is such a very refined and old form of art. So I want kids to see that they are not just plugged on their screen now. But puppetry, like the arts of making a puppet, is a very complex process. If they can make it at school after, why not?”
She chose the show because it was relevant to the post-pandemic situation, the wildfire evacuation this past summer and the upcoming Valentine’s Day.
Coderre said the show was well received by the children — students at Range Lake School got a preview of the act on Jan. 26.
In addition to the puppet show, the festival also included a show by the Francophone Association of the NWT, which presented stories in French using puppets and other props. The main lobby featured a bouncy castle, face painting, popcorn, and crafts.
Coderre said the festival was a special event that people look forward to every year, especially during winter.
“It’s a very special activity for the kids and it’s educational, too,” she said. “It’s entertaining, but also we want kids to learn something.”
Coderre said the festival was made possible by the support of volunteers and staff, who worked hard to make it a success.
“We have people who care about this place and we are celebrating the 40th anniversary (of NACC),” she said. “So it’s a special year and we’re going to start the celebration next fall. It’s a busy time of the year right now. But it’s good. It’s good to be busy and to bring arts to the people.”
Batiste Foisy, the former programming coordinator with the L’Association culturelle franco-ténoise (ACFT), was on hand at the festival to ensure everything went smoothly.
He said the association has been involved with the festival from the beginning, and that it’s a partnership with NACC to provide a full day of entertainment for youth, while introducing youth to culture and theatre and to build an audience for the future.