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Do children’s festivals encourage better arts education in schools?

As DreamBIG Children’s Festival returns to thrill kids and families, we consider whether this impact can translate into the classroom.

23 Jan 2023 9:15

Celina Lei

Performing Arts

‘Sea of Light’ at DreamBIG Children’s Festival 2023. Image: Supplied.

Adelaide Festival Centre’s DreamBIG Children’s Festival returns from 17-27 May 2023 and, for the first time, its opening concert involving 1200 students from 15 schools alongside dance by Dusty Feet Mob will be live-streamed into classrooms across South Australia.

So what sort of impact will this have on arts education in schools, a subject that is often treated as complementary to academically graded ones such as numeracy and literacy?

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Celina Lei

Celina Lei is the Diversity and Inclusion Editor at ArtsHub. She acquired her M.A in Art, Law and Business in New York with a B.A. in Art History and Philosophy from the University of Melbourne. She has previously worked across global art hubs in Beijing, Hong Kong and New York in both the commercial art sector and art criticism. She took part in drafting NAVA’s revised Code of Practice - Art Fairs and was the project manager of ArtsHub’s diverse writers initiative, Amplify Collective. Most recently, Celina was one of three Australian participants in DFAT’s the Future of Leadership program. Celina is based in Naarm/Melbourne. Instagram @lleizy_