International Youth Arts Festival facts for kids
The International Youth Arts Festival (IYAF) is a super fun annual festival for young people! It happens every July in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, which is a town in England. The festival started in 2009 thanks to a person named Robin Hutchinson. Since then, more than 25,000 young people have been involved, either performing or helping out as volunteers.
IYAF is special because anyone can take part! It's an "open-access" festival, which means they don't pick specific performers. If you're a young artist, you can join in! The festival shows off all sorts of art, like theatre plays, dance shows, music concerts, comedy acts, visual art displays, and even special shows just for younger kids.
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Where the Magic Happens: Festival Venues
During the festival, many places across Kingston upon Thames turn into exciting performance spaces. These "venues" are buildings or areas that usually have a different purpose, but for IYAF, they become stages for young artists!
The festival hosts over 200 events in places like the Rose Theatre, Arthur Cotterell Theatre, Kingston Library, Fairfield Recreation Ground, Eagle Brewery Wharf, and The Library club. All these places are quite close to each other. This makes it easy for you to walk between them and see lots of different shows in one day!
Who Makes IYAF Possible
Many people work hard to make the International Youth Arts Festival a success each year.
Festival Supporters
The festival has some well-known supporters called patrons. These are people who believe in the festival and help promote it. Some of the patrons include famous faces like Angellica Bell, Michael Underwood, Tom Holland, Tom Chambers, Sheridan Smith, and Matt Lucas.
The Founder
The International Youth Arts Festival was started in 2009 by Robin Hutchinson. He is also the chairman and a founding trustee, which means he plays a big role in leading the festival and making sure it runs smoothly.
