THE BLUE RIBBON CHILDREN'S FESTIVAL
The Blue Ribbon Children’s Festival is an annual admission-free program for fifth grade students to attend a live, professional performance at The Music Center. It includes a curriculum component that culminates on The Music Center Plaza with all participating students performing a short choreographed dance inspired by the production.
Read the post-event release about this 2013 Blue Ribbon Children’s Festival. LEARN MORE>
Specifically designed for 5th grade students, this admission-free festival features two performances daily. Following each performance of Traces in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, all the attending students will gather on The Music Center Plaza to perform a short choreographed dance incorporating themes from the performance.
Invitations are mailed to schools in the fall and reservations are accepted on a first come, first served basis upon receipt. Participating schools receive curriculum and classroom activities to prepare students for the performance, as well as instructions for the student dance.
The Children’s Festival is sponsored by The Blue Ribbon, a support organization of the Music Center, founded in 1968 by Dorothy Buffum Chandler. The festival began in 1970 as part of The Music Center’s commitment to engage young people in the arts, and is one of California’s longest ongoing free arts education programs. More than 700,000 children have participated in the festival since its inception, and for many, the festival is their first experience at a live performing arts event. The chairs for the 2013 festival are Julie Goldsmith and Gretchen Garrett Valentine.
Thanks to a generous gift from Blue Ribbon member Maxine Dunitz, each participating student receives a copy of A Journey Through The Music Center, a book that introduces the four theatres of The Music Center and the performing arts presented in each venue. The book also includes profiles of some performers and behind the scenes staff, as well as vocabulary and Fun Facts.