International Children's Festival at Wolf Trap facts for kids
The International Children's Festival at Wolf Trap was a special event for young people. It celebrated performing arts, visual arts, and interactive arts. This festival happened every September. It took place at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts. This park is in Fairfax County, Virginia. Wolf Trap is the only national park in the United States just for performing arts!
The festival started in 1971. It was first called "International Children's Day." It helped kids share their culture through music, dance, and art. Catherine Filene Shouse started the festival. She also founded the Wolf Trap National Park.
The Arts Council of Fairfax County helped run the festival. They worked with the Wolf Trap Foundation and the National Park Service. Money from the festival helped pay for the Arts Council's educational programs. The festival usually happened on the third weekend of September. Sadly, after 2011, the festival ended. This was because of money problems.
Contents
What Happened at the Festival?
This two-day festival had many performers. They came from different countries. They showed off their music and dance on four stages. These stages showed their cultural heritage. The performers wore traditional clothes. They played many traditional songs and danced to them.
The festival also had an Arts and Technology Pavilion. Here, kids could try out technology. There were also international tents. In these tents, you could meet the performers. You could learn their dance moves. You could also do craft projects. These projects helped you learn about cultures from around the world. The Creative Kids Workshop had more hands-on art projects. It even had an "instrument petting zoo." This is where you could try playing different musical instruments!
Learning and Schools
The Arts Council of Fairfax County and Fairfax County Public Schools worked together. They created special learning materials. These materials helped students learn from the festival. The lessons were mostly for fifth-grade classes. But they were also available for home-school and private school programs.
Since 1994, the festival was a special field trip. All fifth-grade students in Fairfax County Public Schools visited Wolf Trap. This meant over 13,000 students came each week! They got to see and meet the performers.
The year 2001 was very memorable for the festival. Thousands of students were on their way to Wolf Trap. But then the events of September 11, 2001, happened.
Community Help
The festival featured international performers. But it also included many local arts groups. These groups came from Fairfax County and the Washington D.C. area. More than 400 local artists performed. They showed many different art forms and cultures.
With help from the community, free tickets, gifts, and snacks were given out. Nearly 2,000 children and their families received them. These were families from the Washington D.C. area. They might not have been able to attend otherwise.
The International Children's Festival needed a lot of help. Over 700 volunteers gave more than 3,500 hours of their time. These volunteers came from local companies and service groups. To volunteer at the festival, you had to be at least 16 years old. You also needed to work a 3.5-hour shift.
For over 15 years, Bob McGrath from Sesame Street was a host and advisor for the festival.
Countries and Cultures Represented
The festival brought cultures from all over the world to Virginia. Here are some of the countries that shared their art:
- 2009 - Georgia (country), Serbia, Spain
- 2008 - China, Finland, Ghana, Jordan
- 2007 - Bolivia, Nepal, Spain, Sweden
- 2006 - Hawaii, South Korea, Turkey, Qatar
- 2005 - Georgia (country), India, Mexico, Nigeria
- 1995 - Hawaii, Oklahoma City, Czech Republic, Taiwan
- 1993 - Jordan, Russia, Taiwan, Zimbabwe
- 1991 - Romania, Siberia, Hungary, Czechoslovakia
