The word is out on a half term festival packed full of exciting activities and events coming to Chester next month.
Chester Town Hall and libraries across the region will be awash with things to do as authors, illustrators, TV stars, scientists, coders and even a beatboxer come together to make up the WayWord Festival’s most interactive line-up ever from February 13-19.
Aimed at primary school children seeking to beat boredom during the week’s holiday, WayWord will welcome a host of events including The Clangers from CBBC’s revival of the much-loved TV series as they are shown off by the director of the animated TV show.
Star of CBBC’s The 4 O’clock Club and Strange Hill High (as well as Ricky Gervais’s new film version of The Office, due out in 2016) Ben Bailey Smith, aka rapper Doc Brown, will also be in Chester to reveal behind the scenes secrets about his TV work and to talk about his new picture book I Am Bear.
With a day dedicated to den-building led by Cathy Cross, author of a book on the subject, and a plethora of workshops in which children will be able to make everything from monster finger-puppets to matchbox suitcases, there is a strong ‘maker’ element to this year’s WayWord Festival, with eight Cheshire libraries also hosting the festival by offering free craft activities throughout the week.
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Northwich, Winsford, Ellesmere Port, Blacon, Upton, Frodsham, Neston and Chester Libraries will all have a resident artist offering free arts and craft activities.
Participation will also take other forms, with more events including a coding workshop using the ever-popular computer game, Minecraft, hosted by the authors of Adventures In Minecraft and a chance to produce a play in a day with Ellen Edwin Scott, former leader of London’s Unicorn Theatre’s Young Company.
Plus amazing book artist Su Blackwell will share the secrets of how to make a beautiful book sculpture.
With the illustrator of the popular Horrible Science books, Tony de Saulles, making an appearance and last year’s festival illustrator-in-residence Daisy Hirst returning there will be plenty of chances to learn to draw.
The science theme continues with scientist Mark Brake and rapper Jon Chase who will be bringing to life fictional science with shows on The Science of Star Wars and The Science of Harry Potter.
And the UK’s leading paper-plane professional Andy Chipling will be on hand to share the secrets of how to make the perfect paper plane and Rob Eastaway, author of Maths On The Go and Maths for Mums and Dads, will shine a light on popular maths puzzles.
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Competitions will be announced to call for films, poems, photos, stories and in between paying events, free craft activities will make Chester Town Hall once again a popular destination for families.
Artistic director of Chester Performs, Alex Clifton, said: “This year’s theme is Adventure and we’re delighted to welcome such a diverse set of artists and performers to WayWord Festival.
“They will take the children of the region on a raft of adventures, showing them the best of the world and making half-term a joy; there is an embarrassment of riches on offer and no primary school child needs to be bored this February.
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“Come along for free activities and amazing events – we’re still offering free tickets to under 12s when accompanied by a paying adult, so there is no excuse to miss out.”
Tickets are available at chesterperforms.com/literature, by phone on 0845 241 7868 (10% fee applies) or in person at Chester Visitor Centre. Prices tickets are generally £5, with under 12s free with every full price ticket. Some workshops are more expensive and the activities in the libraries are free.
