Festival of Fairytales 2024

What to see and do at the Festival of Fairytales

• The Let’s Grow Vegetable Nannies

  The Let’s Grow Vegetable Nannies

  

  The Let’s Grow Nannies are two eccentric gardeners who are out for a day trip with their family of little ones. Endearing characters include Jessica, the Sweet-Potato beauty queen; Oz the talented little Courgette who dreams of becoming an actor; and Babs, the daring down-hill racing Watermelon! The Let's Grow Nannies will be around the festival for pop-up pram encounters throughout the day. Keep your eyes peeled for this roaming interactive show. Let's Grow run family-friendly live events and engaging early years educational resources, led by CBeebies favourite gardener Mr. Bloom and the Let’s Grow Nannies!
  
  Timings: 11.15am-12pm, 12.45-1.30pm, 2.45-3.30pm
  

• The Princess & The Pea & The Parachute: A Playful Play by Originary Arts starring Nat Funni & Arkem Mark Walton

  The Princess & The Pea & The Parachute: A Playful Play by Originary Arts starring Nat Funni & Arkem Mark Walton

  

  Think you know the tale of the Princess and the Pea? Think again. On a stormy Sunday in a land far away, discover how an unexpected encounter with some cheeky peas leads Princess Petra to seize the day and start to write her own story… A brand new production written, directed and designed by Originary Arts’ Nikki Shaill for all ages to interact with featuring songs, silliness, puppets and parachute play.
  
  Nat Funni will play The Princess. A sugary sweet non-binary drag confection packed full of surprises, Nat Funni is a national cabaret circuit treasure, silly billy host with the most and crafty puppet master extraordinaire. So get ready for big laughs and bigger smiles because they're Nat Funni, they're hilarious!
  Arkem Mark Walton will be The Pea. Arkem is a storyteller, maximalist maker and creative enabler who performs internationally including Discover Children’s Story Centre, Young V&A and Drag Pirates at National Maritime Museum. A creative shapeshifter who brings colour and joy wherever they perform from Royal Vauxhall Tavern to Glastonbury’s The Rabbit Hole.
  
  Timings: 12pm-12.45pm, 2pm-2.45pm
  

• London Dreamtime: Garden Tales with Vanessa Woolf

  London Dreamtime: Garden Tales with Vanessa Woolf

  

  Vanessa Woolf will wrap you up in words and transport you through gardens, forests and palaces with mystery, wonder and adventure. Sit back and listen- or join in and help tell the story with movement, music and multisensory props! Hear different tales at each session. Vanessa's trailblazing story events have led to a partnership with Time Out, international performances, collaborations with some of the UK's biggest cultural institutions, TV and radio appearances as well as a TEDx talk in Stormont, Belfast. She is founder of London Dreamtime, London's foremost storytelling organisation.
  
  Timings: 10.30am-11.10am, 12pm-12.40pm
  

• London Dreamtime: African Tales with Usifu Jalloh

  London Dreamtime: African Tales with Usifu Jalloh

  

  Usifu Jalloh will draw you in with irresistibly dynamic stories, rooted in West African culture. Journey to a vibrant, colourful, mystical world filled with music and wonder. Born in Kamakwie, Sierra Leone, Usifu is an energetic, funny, inspiring performer and cultural educator. He is the founder of Maambena Fest, as well as an author, broadcaster and winner of multiple awards for his storytelling.
  
  Timings: 1.30pm-2.15pm, 3pm-3.45pm

• Ella the Great's Mini Circus

  Ella the Great's Mini Circus

  

  Roll up, roll up and run away with the circus for the day! Enter a world of wonder with Ella The Great - stilt-walker, magician, unicyclist and globetrotting entertainer extraordinaire! Swap the big top for the smallest circus around in this playful and interactive show for the whole family. It's a tiny show with a massive heart! Join the magic, share the laughter with circus skills and pop-up performances throughout the day. Ella the Great is an internationally acclaimed clown as featured in The Guardian, Soho Theatre, Brunel Museum and Brighton Fringe. The Mini Circus returns to Festival of Fairytales inviting families to join in with plate spinning and circus games.
  
  Timings: 10am-12.30pm, 1.30pm-3.30pm
  
  

• Beanstalks and Dreams: A collaborative crafting workshop

  Beanstalks and Dreams: A collaborative crafting workshop

  

  Children and families can create their own leaves and customise castles to add to our giant paper beanstalks. Cut, stick, collage and colour in at this Originary Arts workshop facilitated by creative Sian Cannell. As we watch the creations grow across the day, filled with children’s dreams and wishes, the beanstalks will lead The Magic Mini Parade around the site in the middle and end of the day accompanied by children wearing fruit and funghi masks they’ve made.
  
  Sian Cannell is a working class, disabled arts educator with specialism in making workshops accessible for children with SEND/neurodivergence and disabilities. She has twenty years’ experience as a performer, educator, mentor and arts facilitator for families and adults.
  
  Timings: 10am-12pm, 1-3pm
  

• Sean O’Brien’s Giant Fruit Bowl & Mask Making

  Sean O’Brien’s Giant Fruit Bowl & Mask Making

  

  Sean O’Brien is a Brighton based artist, animator and illustrator with a love for all things fun and playful. He will bring his Giant Fruit Bowl to the festival for families to pose with and take on a fruity persona for photos and play! Sean will also facilitate workshops for families to create their own paper creations in the Clore Learning Space drawing and making masks inspired by fantastical fruit, vegetables and mushrooms ready to take part in a mini parade around the gardens.
  
  Sean is an arts lecturer, mentor, illustrates for The Guardian, and has run workshops for clients including OKIDO magazine, Lucky Frog Studio and more.
  
  Timings: Fruit Bowl photo opportunity 10am-4pm
  Mask Making Workshop 10.30am-12pm, 1pm-3pm
  

• Rapunzel Portrait Drawing with Francesca Cluney

  Rapunzel Portrait Drawing with Francesca Cluney

  

  Francesca Cluney aka Floor Length Frankie is a life model, artist and performer with 6 foot long natural hair. Since she was 6 years old she has been growing her hair, inspired by the fairytale and fantasy characters she read about and saw in art.
  
  Families are invited to draw portraits of our real life Rapunzel as she poses in the atmospheric setting of The Nave. Capture her portrait and the textures of her hair on giant long rolls of paper that will spill out from where Rapunzel is posing. A giant plait will also hang from the tower to be spotted as part of The Fairytale Trail!
  
  Timings: 10.15am - 11.45am
  

• Bertie and Bow present A Very Silly Show!

  Bertie and Bow present A Very Silly Show!

  

  Bertie and Bow bring all the colour, chaos and silliness of the Brighton seaside to the festival. Charming characters, interactive storytelling, games and fun!
  
  Ria Fay aka Bertie is a versatile performer who sings, dances, acts, stilt-walks and also writes, produces and directs theatre. She is a company director of Concept Theatre and produced their show SONS which has sold out shows at both Vault Festival and Brighton Fringe and became a finalist at the Offie Awards 2024. Ria loves performing for children and has had roles in community shows and children's theatre as well as teaching experience in both ESL and Musical Theatre.
  
  Olugbeminiyi Bammodu aka Bow trained at East 15 Acting School in Community Theatre and since graduating has performed in many children's shows. He has performed with the young Shakespeare company touring schools in Macbeth and played the iconic children's character Kipper in the theatre tour. Olugbeminiyi is a company director of Concept Theatre writing and starring in SONS, the Offie finalist show that sold out shows at both Brighton Fringe and Vault Festival. He has years of experience as a children's teacher, entertainer and facilitator.
  
  Timings: 1.15pm-1.45pm, 2.30pm-3pm
  

• The Fairytale Trail

  The Fairytale Trail

  

  Families can follow a self-led trail of installations large and tiny across the site to spot the fairytales and stories they symbolise. From finding giant apples in the gardens to spotting fairy doors in the trees, long plaits hanging town from the tower to miniature characters hiding around the plants. Children can collect The Fairytale Trail worksheet to fill in across the day as they explore the Garden Museum site and collect the clues to reveal a mystery word. Designed and curated by Originary Arts.
  
  Timings: 10am-4pm
  

• Originary Arts

  Originary Arts

  

  Originary Arts is a Brighton-based collective of creatives, led by Nikki Shaill. Specialising in leading learning, participation and playful projects across the UK and beyond. Originary Arts invite curious adults and children to explore their imagination together in wild and wondrous ways. From poetry and printmaking, to puppetry and paper theatre performances, they dream up and make happen experiences for all ages. They’re excited to be back at the Festival of Fairytales again for more joyful making and shaking!