What can we say about Pandemonium! our children’s festival?
Kids love it (and so do the parents) and we have great fun creating an amazing weekend of music, dance, song, drama and crafts for children aged from birth to 10. Pandemonium! grows and changes every year with a different theme and new activities and workshops to enjoy.
From its hub just off the main area, the kid’s zone is close to the village stage and perfectly positioned for parents and children to have fun together, safely tucked in an area of the site, but close enough to the action for it to be a real part of the event. We also have our Wee Folkies area which has a baby changing and feeding area, as well as a whole programme of activities for the under fives.
It all culminates in performances on the village stage and a magical lantern procession around the site on the Sunday night, where musicians, children and parents proudly parade around the site displaying the fruits of their labours!
Pandemonium! programme 2017
Calling all inventors, scientists, artists and creators! We need your help. Time Travellers from a far-off future have come to Shrewsbury Folk Festival for 2017. They have journeyed for centuries from a future where music doesn’t exist anymore, following the legendary tales of the great folk festival of days gone by, to arrive here in Shrewsbury to discover what music really is!
With the help of our resident artist extraordinaire, Garry from Off Our Trolley, you will create real working clocks to take home, futuristic instruments and a time machine to help Highly Sprung’s Time Travellers get back to the future. Can you teach the Time Travellers about rhythm in our percussive dance workshop? Or to play a tune with the Pandemonium! Big Band?
The Wee Folkies area has been transformed into a space-port complete with rocket and lots of shiny materials to get creative with. We have increased our provision for children with additional needs this year too, with specially designed music workshops and a concert from top band Iris.
Sessions can get busy so come a little early if there’s something you really want to do. Age guidelines are in the activity descriptions and all children must be accompanied by an adult in the Pandemonium! tent, all activities are fun for the grown-ups too so this shouldn’t be a chore.
Lantern Making sponsored by Love2Stay (Pandemonium! craft tent, suitable for all ages, adult help required)
Friday: 17:00 – 18:00, 18:15 – 19:15
Saturday: 14:00 – 14:45, 15:00 – 15:45, 16:00 – 16:45
Sunday: 11:30 – 12:15, 12:30 – 13:15
Come along to the crafts tent and make a willow lantern with the Pandemonium! team. Then come along on Sunday night to join in the lantern procession. The theme for this year’s lanterns is The Future, what will you come up with? The generous folk at Love2Stay have sponsored our lantern workshops and parade this year making it the biggest ever!
Lanterns need to be made over two days because of drying times. Our wonderful lantern procession is on Sunday evening and therefore all lanterns must be finished by Sunday.
Plan your sessions as follows: Friday and Saturday, or Friday and Sunday, or Saturday and Sunday. Please come early, we have expanded our provision over the past two years but competition for places can be fierce! All lanterns will be lit with LED lights, not candles, to ensure participants’ safety.
Collect your lanterns between 7pm and 8pm on Sunday night from the children’s tent and then join the start of the procession at the Pandemonium! Tent (setting off at 8.30pm). We require a £5 deposit for the lantern poles which will be returned to you at the end of the procession.
Panic Circus (Circus Tent, suitable for all)
Daily from 09:30. See Professor Panic’s board for more information on what’s on
Professor Panic and his fabulous circus are with us again this year, to teach you circus skills to amaze your friends and family. Don’t miss the most incredible bubbles you will ever see and watch the masters at work. See the board outside the circus big top for details of what’s on each day.
Up With the Sun Family Yoga (Pandemonium! Activity tent, age 3+)
Saturday: 09:30 – 10:00
Sunday: 09:30 – 10:00
Monday: 09:30 – 10:00
Start your day the yoga way with Sue Davies from Flexifun Yoga. The whole family can take part in this fun session, what better way to wake up your body and mind.
It’s Time To…Make Your Mark (Pandemonium! craft tent, suitable for all)
Saturday: 10:00 – 11:00
Can you imagine what Shrewsbury Folk Festival will look like in the future? Will we all travel here by hover bike and camp in pods? Join Garry from Off Our Trolley to draw and colour a giant mural, shout out your ideas and Garry will draw them, live!
It’s Time To…Get Noisy (Pandemonium! Craft Tent, suitable for all)
Saturday: 17:00 – 18:00
What will the instruments of the future look like? What will they sound like? Garry from Off Our Trolley is the King of junk instruments and upcycling, bring an old or broken instrument to transform or create something new using recycled materials.
It’s Time to…Travel (Pandemonium! Craft tent, suitable for all)
Sunday: 10:00 – 11:00
The Time Travellers need a time machine to send them home, help Garry from Off Our Trolley to build one big enough for them all to ride in. I wonder what fuel it uses?
It’s Time to…Tie Dye T-Shirts (Pandemonium! Craft tent, suitable for all)
Sunday: 16:30 – 18:00
We have it on good authority that tie dye is a big hit in the future, come and have a go at creating a unique memento of the festival. White folk festival t-shirts will be available to purchase for £5 from the Pandemonium! tent from 15:30 or bring your own to upcycle.
It’s Time to…Make Time (Pandemonium! Craft tent, age 6+)
Monday: 10:00 – 11:00
No time traveller would be without a trusty clock, join Garry from Off Our Trolley to make a real working clock to take on your own time travel adventures. All materials are supplied, please arrive in good time as we expect this workshop to be popular.
It’s Time to…Dress Up (Pandemonium! Craft tent, suitable for all)
Monday: 13:00 – 14:00
The procession is just an hour away, make futuristic costumes and hats to wear for the procession.
Iris – Workshop (Pandemonium! activity tent, suitable for all, including children with additional needs)
Saturday: 10:00 – 10:45
Sunday: 14:00 – 14:45
Monday: 10:00 – 10:45
Inclusive Folk: Come and join Cat and Pete from the band Iris, who’s mission is to prove that *everyone* can make music! There will be instruments, singing, Makaton signing, toys, sensory games, and more!
Rocket Making (Pandemonium! craft tent, suitable for all)
Saturday: 11:00 – 12:00
Sunday: 14:00 – 15:00
Monday: 11:00 – 12:00
Join Amy and Dawn to create a fabulous bottle rocket, then launch it into the sky! How far will yours go?
Percussive Dance with Jaivant Patel (Pandemonium! activity tent)
Saturday: 11:00 – 12:00 (age 6+), 12:00 – 13:00 (family session for under 6’s)
Jaivant Patel brings a brand new workshop, specially created for Shrewsbury Folk Festival, to help you find your rhythm and get moving. Accompanied by live percussionist Ruth Ible, this lively workshop will get your heart pumping and your feet stomping. Inspired by Indian Classical dance and contemporary dance techniques you will leave feeling uplifted and energised.
Windsong Pipes (Pandemonium! craft tent, age 7+)
Saturday: 12:00 – 13:30
Most people who make this beautiful indestructible pipe have never played any instrument before. Many have never made anything before. Come and make your own pipe and play it “from the heart” by the end of the session. Make the pipe YOU CAN! Play the pipe – YOU CAN! Have fun YOU SHALL! Tiny fingers can’t reach. Make a whistle on Monday instead.
Children’s Big Band Workshop with Maia and Nonny (Pandemonium! Activity tent, age 5+)
Saturday: 13:00 – 14:00
Sunday: 10:00 – 11:00
Monday: 11:00 – 12:00
This year Maia and Nonny from our festival Big Band will be teaching you to play some tunes. Bring along your instruments and help us create the Pandemonium! Big Band. There’s no need to read music as the tunes will be taught by ear, although we can write notation for you if you need it. You will have the chance to perform the tunes you have learned in the Family Folk Slam and the children’s big finale festival show on Monday at 3pm on the village stage if you wish.
Tin Whistle Workshop with Clarkes Tin Whistles (Pandemonium! activity tent, age 7+)
Saturday: 16:00 – 16:45
Sunday: 16:00 – 16:45
Monday: 13:00 – 13:45
Ever fancied learning to play this very traditional folk instrument? Now’s your chance thanks to Clarke’s Tin Whistles and our fabulous tutors Diana and Judy. Whistles will be available to purchase too after the workshop if you enjoy it.
Relax for Bed Children’s Yoga (Pandemonium! Activity Tent, age 3+)
Saturday: 18:00 – 18:30
Sunday: 17:00 – 17:30
After a busy day of festival excitement, come and wind down with our bedtime yoga session. Get your pyjamas on and relax with Sue from Flexifun Yoga.
Mindfulness, Relaxation for Busy Kids (Pandemonium! Activity Tent, age 6+)
Saturday: 18:30 – 19:00
Sunday: 17:30 – 18:00
Sue from Flexifun Yoga leads this mindfulness session which helps to focus children’s breathing and thoughts, the perfect antidote to the busyness of the festival.
Windsong Whistles (Pandemonium! craft tent, age 5+)
Monday: 12:00 – 13:00
Come and make a whistle that everyone will hear right across the site. It whistles, it warbles, it sings. No moving parts, all nice and safe. If we listen, very carefully we might be able to talk to little aliens from a planet far far away.
The Time Travellers (meet at Pandemonium! tent, suitable for all)
Friday: 16:50 – 17:00
Saturday: 17:00 – 17:10
Sunday: 11:00 – 11:15
Monday: 12:00 – 12:10
This group of strange wonderers have been travelling for a long time to get to Shrewsbury Folk Festival, we’re not talking hours, days, months or even years but centuries of travel from a distant future to arrive here.
And this troublesome trio of time bandits are on a mission; sent from a future where music doesn’t exist anymore, they have followed the legendary tales of the great folk festival of days gone by, to arrive here in Shrewsbury to discover what music really is!
Imagine never having heard an instrument being played, never having listened to the sound of a voice being sung or danced to the beat of a drum. These three music seekers need your help if they are to complete their mission and restore music to their future.
Time Travellers is brought to you by Highly Sprung, who return once again to Shrewsbury Folk Festival with their brand of high energy, fun-filled and comedy fuelled performance. A different show is performed every day in the Pandemonium! tent with other performances around the site.
The Fantastic Futures of Finn Flynn Victorian Time Traveller (Pandemonium! activity tent, suitable for all)
Saturday: 14:00 – 14:30
Sunday: 13:30 – 14:00
Monday: 12:30 – 13:00
Meet daring time-travelling scientist and adventurer Finlay Flynn as he drops by in 2017 to share with us his amazing stories of the past and futures yet to come. Join in the fun as the children help our Victorian hero to re-enact his tales and bring his most exciting adventures to life. Shhhh, don’t tell anyone, but he may even share some secrets of the centuries that lie ahead!
Iris – concert (Village Stage, suitable for all especially those with additional needs)
Saturday: 14:25 – 15:25
Iris are a folk band who perform with Makaton signing. Join them on the Village Stage for a joyfully interactive concert, suitable for everyone from toddlers upwards! Sit back and enjoy thoughtful arrangements of well-known songs, or join in with the signing, percussion instruments, and sensory toys.
Storytelling with Vickie Orton (Pandemonium! activity tent, age 6+)
Saturday: 15:30 – 16:00
Sunday: 13:00 – 13:30
Join storyteller Vickie Orton for a spooky tale of a present-day pair of children that don’t believe in the old tales their grandfather tells them much to their peril.
Family Folk Slam (Pandemonium! Activity tent, suitable for all)
Sunday: 11:15 – 12:45
Why should the grown-ups have all the fun? Come and join the Family Folk Slam, an opportunity to play, sing and dance along to some of the best musicians at Shrewsbury Folk Festival. The Pandemonium! tent will be transformed into an intimate gig venue where top musicians will lead songs and tunes for you to listen and play along to. For 2017 we welcome Kim Lowings and The Greenwood and some very special guests. The past 2 years have been amazing, not to be missed!
Tales and Tails Treasure Hunt (Meet by the Pandemonium! craft tent, suitable for all)
Sunday: 15:00 – 16:30
Donkey, cat, dog and cockerel want to form a band. Your treasure will help make the music but will the animals form a band? Come and make your story bottle then join us for a musical treasure hunt. Listen to the story and answer the riddles to collect the treasure as we go.
Lantern Procession sponsored by Love2Stay (suitable for all)
Sunday
On Sunday night, everyone who has created a lantern is invited to parade with them from the Pandemonium! tent to the dance tent. We ask for a £5 deposit for each lantern light pole, this will be returned to you after the procession when you bring the pole back. The generous folk at Love2Stay have sponsored our lantern procession this year helping to make it the biggest ever!
19:00 – 20:00 – collect your lanterns from the Pandemonium! tent
20:15 – form up the procession outside the Pandemonium! tent
20:30 – procession from the Pandemonium! tent, around the village stage, past the food tent and finishing at the Dance tent where you can join in with the evening ceilidh
Children’s Procession and Performance on the Village Stage
Monday
14.45 – form up procession outside Pandemonium! tent
15:00 – procession around Village Stage followed by a performance on the Village Stage.
If you have made anything or learnt any new skills over the weekend Monday afternoon is your chance to show them off to your friends and family! Process around the village stage with your amazing masks, costumes, junk instruments and creations. Dance, sing and play all the new tunes you’ve learnt. This is a real highlight of the festival, not to be missed.
Drop in daily from 10:30 till 18:00
Our Wee Folkies area is an oasis of calm and fun for the under 5’s. As part of the main Pandemonium! tent, they feel part of the action whilst having a go at activities just for them.
The Wee Folkies area is drop-in, there is a changing area available and feeding mothers are more than welcome, come and make yourselves comfy.
Baby Bops (Wee Folkies, age 1 and under)
Saturday: 11:00 – 11:30
Sunday: 16:30 – 17:00
Monday: 11:00 – 11:30
Baby Bops is a mini version of Toddle Bops designed especially for babies under 1. Each session is unique and engages songs, rhymes, shakers, bubbles, parachutes, puppets and sensory surprises to encourage confidence and learning, expression and creativity in a fun light-hearted way for babies and their carers. Becky can promise the first-time festival goers will have a magical time.
Build a Robot (Wee Folkies, Under 5’s)
Saturday: 13:00 – 14:30
Sunday: 15:00 – 16:30
Monday: 12:00 – 13:30
Drop-in to make a robot to take home using recycled materials and loads of shiny stuff. Let your wee folkies get create with simple techniques perfect for tiny hands.
Toddle Bops (Pandemonium! activity tent, under 5’s)
Saturday: 14:30 – 15:15
Sunday: 15:00 -15:45
Toddle Bops can only be described as music mayhem for kids under 5. Each session is unique and fun, as with guitar in hand Becky Syson leads the group through a 45 minute session of singing, dancing, rhyme and silliness!
Build a Space Port (Wee Folkies, under 5’s)
Saturday: 16:00 – 17:30
Sunday: 11:30 – 13:00
Fabulous Gigi Bloks + under 5’s + imagination = an amazing space port. Bring your parent or carer and join this drop-in workshop to build a rocket and futuristic house using lots of exciting materials. Parents and carers will be able to live out their most ambitious Lego dreams!
Bedtime Hour (Wee Folkies, under 5’s)
Saturday: 18:00 – 19:00
Sunday: 18:00 – 18:40
Come and join storyteller Vickie Orton and her puppet friends for bedtime stories and rhymes. Meet Belinda Bee, the cheekiest bee you’ll ever see, a house on legs and a very shy armadillo.
With thanks to our artists:
Panic Circus
Flexifun Yoga
Maia Ayling and Nonny Tabush
Iris www.catkelly.co.uk/iris
Doug Williams
