bOing! 2023 Brochure

Boing is back!

Join us for a weekend packed with entertainment, participation and creativity this August Bank Holiday weekend.

From thrilling outdoor theatre and dance performances to exciting workshops, all day participatory arts activities and family cinema there is endless fun for the entire family.

From the Luminarium’s magical light and colour to acclaimed international theatre (including the unforgettable tale of Tom Thumb told as you’ve never seen it before, in Buchettino), you’ll find storytelling, drama, music and performance for all ages.

Wind down and relax with Simeon Wright’s Yoga whilst the children get in the summer mood creating their very own bug wings to wear around the festival in the Animate Arts Paper Bugs Workshop or for ages 5+ join the scientists from the University of Kent in an interactive science workshop.

After a long day of magical performances and imaginative workshops simply bathe in the sun together, with live music and promenade performances - all free!

Don’t miss the family highlight of Kent summer –a weekend for everyone – we’ll see you at bOing! 2023!

David Sefton Director of Culture and Creative Projects

Plan Your Day

These are just some ideas to help plan your day. Ages are just guidelines (unless otherwise stated) not strict rules! And our free, outdoor performances will amaze and entertain all ages…

Babies and toddlers

It’s Hot, It’s Not (2-7) p.9

Falling Star (0-3) p.11

Baby Zone (0-3) p.32

Ages 3-7 Buchettino (7+) p.7

It’s Hot, It’s Not (2-7) p.9

Mrs H and the Singalong Band (all ages) p.25

Workshops (5+)

Ages 8+ BACKUP (8+) p.5

Buchettino (7+) p.7

Workshops (5+)

Accessible bOing!

Dodecalis – Luminarium (all ages) p.13

Playful Tiger (7+ Complex Autism) p.14

The Lost Feather (5+) p.15

Relaxed Screening: Elemental (PG) p.30

And all our free outdoor performances!

North Pole, 4 am. Under a snowstorm powerful enough to wrestle with a sequoia, a used-up van finds its way across the icecap. Three reporters land on the ice as if stepping on the moon for the first time. A bear stares straight at them. The team gets ready…

A magical journey to the North Pole featuring breath-taking puppetry and a creative mix of theatre and video.

Compagnie Chaliwaté and The Focus Company

BACKUP

DATES: Sat 26 & Sun 27 Aug

TIMES: Sat 26 Aug10:30am & 2pm Sun 27 Aug - 10am

LOCATION: Gulbenkian Theatre

DURATION: 30 minutes

TICKETS: £6

AGES: Recommended for ages 8+

Buchettino is the classic story of Tom Thumb but unlike any version you may have seen before…..

In the dimness of a large wooden bedroom, the Storyteller invites everyone to lie down on small, wooden beds wrapped up ready for a bedtime story. As her tale unfolds, the sounds of the story whirl around outside, bringing Buchettino to life for the listeners.

Societas Buchettino

DATES: Sat 26 & Sun 27 Aug

TIMES: 11:30am & 3:30pm

LOCATION: ColyerFergusson Hall

DURATION: 60 minutes

TICKETS: £6

AGES: Recommended for ages 7+

Image © MA Scene NationaleMarjolaine Grenier

Why is it that sometimes I’m hot but you’re cold? Why are there puddles and sometimes not? How can it be sunny and rainy all at once and also not at all? And if it’s summer here, why is it winter there?

This surreal, funny and carefully crafted physical performance explores the weather in all its forms from summer to autumn, winter to spring and takes delight in discovering the world anew and how we experience it differently, wherever we are.

A Unicorn production Reckless Sleepers

It’s Hot, It’s Not

DATES: Sat 26 & Sun 27 Aug

TIMES: 12:15pm & 3:30pm

LOCATION: Grimond

DURATION: 45 minutes

TICKETS: £6

AGES: For ages 2-7

Castor and Polly spend their nights gazing up at the skies, tracing the paths of the stars and naming constellations. They never expect to get any closer. Until one night, when a star falls from the sky and lands in their treehouse! With music, magical inventions, play and lots and lots of trying, Castor and Polly make an exciting discovery about where this star truly belongs…

Falling Star is a twinkling, cheerful story for wee ones all about stars, outer space and finding your place.

Starcatchers

Falling Star

DATES: Sat 26 & Sun 27 Aug

TIMES: 10:30am & 2pm

LOCATION: Jarman 1

DURATION: 45 minutes

TICKETS: £6

AGES: Recommended for ages 0-3

Image © Brian Hartley

The Architects of Air are back with the latest evolution of their Luminarium and the most exciting version yet.

Designed by Alan and Meko Parkinson, Dodecalis is a dazzling maze of luminous lines connecting three giant ‘Dodecadomes’ and a magnificent Main Dome. Dodecalis also features an awe inspiring tree, a twist of colourful convolutions.

Tickets can be bought on the day (expect queues at busy times). We recommend that you book entry in advance for a timeslot – a limited number of tickets are available. Time in the Luminarium is limited to 20 minutes at busy periods, but longer if there is no queue. Due to the special setting of this event, audience members who wish to enter the structure will be asked to remove their shoes.

Architects of Air Dodecalis –Luminarium

DATES: Sat 26 & Sun 27 Aug

TIMES: 10am - 5pm (timeslots)

LOCATION: Cathedral Meadow

DURATION: 30 minutes

TICKETS: £5

AGES: All

Image © Chris Martin

Barrowland Ballet

Playful Tiger

DATES: Sat 26 & Sun 27 Aug

TIMES: 11am & 2pm

LOCATION: Grimond

DURATION: 45 mins

TICKETS: £6 (1 x Autistic or Complex Needs participant and accompanying carers/guardians/family members of up to 5 people)

AGES: 7+ with complex needs and their families/ carers.

Playful Tiger tells the story of a tiger’s visit to a rigid family home where he turns their world upside down. It’s chaotic but brilliantly fun, with a focus on sensory engagement.

Playful Tiger is for children and young people age 7+ with complex autism who are mainly non-verbal. Playfulness within the work creates space for a two-way response between audience and performers.

An information pack, Visual Story, and Timeline will be provided to audiences in advance of each performance.

The magical, musical, sensory Cart is wheeling its way to bOing! Festival, delivering Oily Cart’s unique brand of multi-sensory mayhem, designed for all children, especially for disabled children and their families.

In this interactive, accessible storytelling session, everyone is part of the action!

This event is outdoor and not ticketed, but disabled audience members can reserve space in advance online. See boingfestival.com for details.

Oily Cart

The Lost Feather: A Sensory Storytelling Adventure’

DATES: Sat 26 & Sun 27 Aug

TIMES: 10:30am & 1pm

LOCATION: Cathedral

Meadow

TICKETS: FREE

AGES: Recommended for ages 5+

Image © Jassy Earl

Roll Model

DATES: Sun 27 Aug

TIMES: 10:30am & 4:30pm

LOCATION: Gulbenkian

Lawn

DURATION: 35 mins

TICKETS: FREE

AGES: All

Simple Cypher throw down their unique fusion of Hip Hop choreography and contemporary circus to create an uplifting experience embracing individual and collective ambition.

Roll Model is a playful exploration of finding your troupe, fitting in and how we’re shaped by the people we spend time with.

Rimski & Handkerchief are a curious spectacle indeed, as they meander among the crowds with their marvellous musical machines: the Bicycle Piano and Double Bassicle… Singing timeless songs of momentous, melancholic & magical magnitude, while performing an extraordinary dance on wheels.

Rimski’s Yard

Rimski & Handkerchief

DATES: Sat 26 & Sun 27 Aug

TIMES: 11am, 2:30pm & 4:15pm

LOCATION: Walkabout

DURATION: 30 minutes

TICKETS: FREE

AGES: All

Simple Cypher

Image © DanMartinArtist

KEY

Information Point

Drinking water points

Food

First Aid

Toilet facilities

MAP withfavouriteShareyourphotos us @boingfestival

Accessible toilet facilities are located in Gulbenkian Arts Centre, Colyer-Fergusson, Jarman and Grimond.

Accessible hoist toilet facilities are available in Rutherford and Templeman Library.

Car parks

Rain does not stop bOing!

If it is wet , outdoor performances move to Eliot , Grimond and Gulbenkian

Stopgap Dance Company Frock

DATES: Sat 26 & Sun 27 Aug

TIMES: 11:30am & 2:30pm

LOCATION: Gulbenkian Lawn

DURATION: 25 minutes

TICKETS: FREE

AGES: Recommended for ages 5+

Six striking dancers collide in an uplifting dance riot accompanied by especially composed original music by Hannah Miller and Oli Austin of Moulettes.

In this quirky dance piece, you’ll watch playful observations of the yesteryears explode into a ‘punkish’ celebration of individuality and difference.

Avant Garde’s trademark synaesthesia of hip-hop, contemporary dance and captivating soundtrack unfurl in this electrifying 35-minute show for all ages. S.C.R.U.M overlaps live performance with virtual reality content like never before. Bring your mobile phone and scan the unique QR code on-site to access hidden virtual layers to this unique live dance experience.

S.C.R.U.M

DATES: Sat 26 & Sun 27 Aug

TIMES: 12:30pm & 3:30pm

LOCATION: Gulbenkian Lawn

DURATION: 35 minutes

TICKETS: FREE

AGES: All

Avant Garde Dance

Jasmin Vardimon Company

JV2: Canvas

DATES: Sat 26 & Sun 27 Aug

TIMES: 12pm & 3pm

LOCATION: Jarman Plaza

TICKETS: FREE

AGES: All

Choreographed by Gulbenkian

Associate Artist Jasmin Vardimon

MBE, Canvas invites the audience to come up close around a massive canvas. Using the dancers movement as brush strokes a picture slowly emerges….

0AR (zero AR) is a collection of short dance works in Augmented Reality (AR), based on the 2005 groundbreaking production zero degrees - a collaboration between Sadler’s Wells Associate Artists Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Akram Khan and Nitin Sawhney, with sculptor Antony Gormley.

This a communal experience for children and families to enjoy together using a tablet device, where you can interact in real time with one another and experience extracts of the original work popping up in 3D.

AΦE 0AR

DATES: Sat 26 & Sun 27 Aug

TIMES: 10 minute slots between 10.30am – 12.30pm & 1.30pm – 3.30pm

LOCATION: Gulbenkian Lawn

TICKETS: FREE

AGES: All

Image © Elly Rutherford

Music at bOing!

Music for Change

Global Sounds Stage

DATES: Sat 26 & Sun 27 Aug

TIMES: 10:15am - 2:15pm

LOCATION: bOing!

Hilltop

TICKETS: FREE

AGES: All

Music for Change have created a brilliant lineup of music performances and workshops for all ages.

Performances: 11am & 1.30pm

Workshops: 10.15am & 1pm (Cathedral Meadow)

Mrs H and the Singalong Band

DATES: Sat 26 & Sun 27 Aug

TIMES: 12:15am & 3pm

LOCATION: bOing! Hilltop

TICKETS: FREE

AGES: All Bringing together elements of Folk, Soul, Afro, Latin, Dub, comedy and theatre this unique band presents the ‘sing-along’ with a new lease of life for all the family to join in with.

Bollywood Brass Band

DATES: Sat 26 Aug

TIMES: 10am, 1:30pm & 4:30pm

LOCATION: Gulbenkian Lawn

TICKETS: FREE

AGES: All

Bollywood Brass Band is the UK’s pioneering Indian-style wedding band, playing the great tunes and compulsively danceable rhythms of Bollywood.

Workshops at bOing!

Confidance Dive into Dance!

DATES: Sat 26 Aug

TIMES: 11:30am

LOCATION: Jarman 2

TICKETS: £4

AGES: 7+

This will be a fun, family workshop for people aged 7+, where we use Confidance’s choreography boards to become dancemakers, movers and shakers!

Avant Garde Dance

S.C.R.U.M Dance Workshop

DATES: Sun 27 Aug

TIMES: 1:30pm

LOCATION: Jarman 2

TICKETS: £4

AGES: 5+

Join the team at Avant Garde Dance to learn their trademark blend of hip-hop and contemporary dance!

Simeon Wright Yoga

DATES: Sat 26 & Sun 27 Aug

TIMES: 10:15am, 1:15pm & 3:15pm

LOCATION: Cathedral Meadow

TICKETS: FREE

AGES : Recommended 7-11

The classes consist of some poses, yoga based games and stories, partner work and some breathing where children really relax at the end and learn some self regulation techniques.

Animate Arts Paper Bugs Workshop

DATES: Sat 26 & Sun 27 Aug

TIMES: 10:45am, 1:15pm & 3:30pm

LOCATION: Grimond

TICKETS: £4

AGES: 5+

Get creative and make your very own bug wings to wear around the festival. From ladybugs to bumblebees, this buzzy, colourful and fun workshop will get you in the summer festival mood!

Workshops at bOing!

University of Kent Cool Science

DATES: Sat 26 & Sun 27 Aug

TIMES: 10am, 11am, 12pm, 2:30pm & 3:45pm

LOCATION: Grimond

TICKETS: £4

AGES: 5+

Join scientists from the University of Kent in a 45-minute interactive liquid nitrogen show that explores how the extreme cold affects gases, liquids and solid materials.

Code Kids LEGO Robotics Workshop

DATES: Sat 26 & Sun 27 Aug

TIMES: 10:30am & 2pm

LOCATION: Grimond

TICKETS: £4

AGES: 5+

Learn coding in a fun way!

LEGO helps to bring out your child’s creative side as well as they design and build a LEGO robot.

Code Kids Virtual Reality Coding Workshop

DATES: Sat 26 & Sun 27 Aug

TIME: 12pm

LOCATION: Grimond

TICKETS: £4

AGES: 6+

Learn to code in a virtual world in the palm of your hand. Give your 3D creations behaviour, animation, and movement. Interact with a virtual world entirely created by you.

University of Kent Sport Kent Sport Mini Sessions

DATES: Sat 26 & Sun 27 Aug

LOCATION: bOing! Hilltop

TICKETS: FREE

AGES: All

Suitable for all ages there is no pre-booking, just turn up.

Sat 10am – 3pm

Drums Alive, Zumbatomic and Street Dance.

Sun 10.30am – 4pm

Mini-golf

Films at bOing!

The Little Mermaid (PG)

DATE: Sat 26 Aug

TIME: 11am

LOCATION: Gulbenkian

Cinema

TICKETS: £5

The beloved story of Ariel, a beautiful and spirited young mermaid with a thirst for adventure. The youngest of King Triton’s daughters, and the most defiant, Ariel longs to find out more about the world beyond the sea.

Relaxed Screening

Elemental (PG)

DATE: Sat 26 Aug

TIME: 3pm

LOCATION: Gulbenkian

Cinema

TICKETS: £5 (carers free)

Relaxed Screenings are open to all, especially those with autism and learning disabilities where films are screened in a relaxed, comfortable, safe, inclusive environment, with no trailers or advertisements – just the film. Audio description available.

All films are screened in the Gulbenkian Cinema.

Elemental (PG)

DATE: Sun 27 Aug

TIME: 11am

LOCATION: Gulbenkian

Cinema

TICKETS: £5

Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse (PG)

DATE: Sun 27 Aug

TIME: 3pm

LOCATION: Gulbenkian

Cinema

TICKETS: £5

In a city where fire, water, land, and air residents live together, a fiery young woman and a go-withthe-flow guy are about to discover something elemental: How much they actually have in common.

After reuniting with Gwen Stacy, Brooklyn’s full-time, friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man is catapulted across the Multiverse, where he encounters a team of Spider-People charged with protecting its very existence.

All-day activites at bOing!

University of Kent

Future Human Gallery

DATES: Sat 26 & Sun 27 Aug

TIME: 10am - 3.30pm

LOCATION: Jarman

You will have the chance to draw, build, paint, or model your own ‘future human’ and add it to the growing gallery created across the two days of the festival.

Brigitte Aphrodite & Quiet Boy

Baby Zone

DATES: Sat 26 & Sun 27 Aug

TIME: 10am - 5pm LOCATION: Gulbenkian Lawn

Baby Zone is an immersive, multi-sensory theatrical experience for early years (0-3 years) and their carers. Storytelling, songs & imaginative play from Brigitte Aphrodite with instrumentation from composer Quiet Boy.

New for bOing! 2023

The FutureProof Zone

DATES: Sat 26 & Sun 27 Aug

TIME: 10am - 5pm

LOCATION: The Burrow

In this area of the bOing! site you will find information and activities helping us to think about all the different ways we can help ensure the future of our planet.

Gulbenkian Young

Performers

bOing! Young

Performers

DATES: Sat 26 & Sun 27 Aug

TIME: 10am - 5pm

LOCATION: Walkabout

Look out for our very own Gulbenkian young performers around campus over bOing! weekend!

And make sure to join us for a boogie at the

bOing! Silent Disco

Sat 26 & Sun 27, 10am - 5pm

Please come by bus if you can. The bOing! bus stop is only 5 mins walk to the main festival site. Plan your journey at stagecoachbus.com

Car Parking is free across the whole University campus for bOing! This map highlights the 2 closest, but if they are full you can use any of the car parks on site.

For sat navs use postcode CT2 7NB

Tickets & Information

(Allow 20/30 mins walk)

Book online at boingfestival.com or call 01227 769075

Keep in the loop @boingfestival

The paper version of this guide was printed on carbon offset paper, certified by World Land Trust, reducing carbon dioxide emissions and helping to protect threatened forest environments.