Up to 5,000 schoolchildren from Galway, Mayo, Roscommon, Westmeath, Offaly and Clare are expected to attend the Baboro children's arts festival, which opens in Galway tomorrow and continues during the week. The festival is an offshoot of the Galway Arts Festival and has a £70,000 budget, including an Arts Council grant worth £30,000 and substantial sponsorship from Digital in Galway.
It is aimed at children of all age groups. Shows such as The Happy Gang in Hyperspace from Scotland hope to cater for toddlers, while at the other end of the spectrum transition-year students will put on a number of shows in the Town Hall Theatre.
Overseas groups include the Green Thumb Theatre company from Canada, which will present New Kid, a play about bullying.
Fourth and fifth-year students from the Presentation School in Galway have been working with musician Kathie Prince, actor/director Pete Mullineaux and members of the Macnas theatre company on what is described as a "multi-faceted" show. It will be performed in the Town Hall Theatre on Wednesday.
Public Arts, a team of professional artists from Ireland and Britain, have been commissioned to create a performance project with 37 second-level students from schools in Co Galway. The show includes an original dance with a soundtrack pre-recorded by the group during the rehearsals. It will be staged in the Town Hall Theatre at the weekend.
There will also be a screening of the film The Boy from Mercury, followed by a question-and-answer session with its writer/director Martin Duffy and production designer Tom Conroy.
Marilyn Taylor, the author of a teenage trilogy, will read from her works and describe her approach to fiction writing.
Participants will make their own radio programme at a media education workshop. Design Works is an interactive exhibition which aims to focus attention on key issues in design, art and technology.
Career talks will include an introduction to "new journalism" by Hot Press journalist Olaf Tyaransen.