Adelaide Festival Centre's SOMETHING ON SATURDAY Returns in April

Something on Saturday is back for another fun-filled year with the best entertainment for children aged 2 - 10 years from 23 April - 27 August. This year's bumper program features 20 stand out shows over 19 weeks.

Adelaide Festival Centre's Something on Saturday program continues to delight and entertain thousands of people every year, providing an opportunity to beat the winter blues with many South Australian children enjoying their first theatrical experience through the program. Adelaide Festival Centre believes in investing in the future and vibrancy of the arts in the state. Something on Saturday is a program committed to providing inspiring arts experiences to young people and more than 15,000 children and their families participate in the program each year.

The 2016 program has something that appeals to all tastes and covers everything from physical theatre, slapstick humour, puppetry, live music, storytelling, ballet, 80's dance, jazz, flamenco, pop, rock, symphony orchestra, science, juggling, comedy, cabaret, literature, theatre, physical story-telling, singalongs and rhyme. Kids are encouraged to sing, dance and have good old fashioned fun as Something on Saturday presents artists from all over Australia.

Adelaide Festival Centre CEO & Artistic Director Douglas Gautier says, "Adelaide Festival Centre has been committed to introducing children to the joy of live performance for the past 39 years. More than three generations have been thrilled, laughed out loud, clapped their hands and stomped their feet during the perennially popular Something on Saturday season. Make sure you're not just sitting on the sports sidelines this winter and head to the Adelaide Festival Centre to find out what real entertainment is all about."

BankSA is the principal sponsor of Something on Saturday. Chief Executive Nick Reade said BankSA is excited to be, once again, partnering with Something on Saturday for its 2016 season.

"We believe that encouraging kids to be inquisitive, creative and innovative is really important in creating a bright and successful future generation of South Australians," Mr Reade said.

Tickets are on sale Friday 11 March, patrons are encouraged to book quickly to avoid disappointment as some shows have limited capacity.

This year's Something on Saturday season will commence with the truly transcendent experience that is The Moon's A Balloon by award winning children's theatre company Patch Theatre. The work is inspired by EE Cummings poem of the same name. This beautiful piece of visual theatre represents the way children play and the way they can imagine and invent so creatively with so little. It is the perfect show to kick start the program.

Further highlights from this year's program include:

· Spectacular Science Show by SciWorld will be just that: spectacular! This is a one-stop show that celebrates everything science! Catch smoke rings, see fire balls, marvel at the awesomeness of science and learn about chemistry, energy, forces and so much more. Expect rockets, explosions and some really cool tricks.

· Dance lovers will be delighted as the Australian Classical Youth Ballet hasyou tapping your feet and singing 'Just a spoon full of sugar' as they recreate the magic that is Mary Poppins on the Festival Theatre stage. A Frozen Tale The Ballet by South Australian Children's Ballet Company has given new life to this timeless story inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's, "The Snow Queen".

· Literature lovers will love The Little Prince. Adapted from one of the most widely read books in history - with 140 million copies sold worldwide - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's adventure story is a timeless classic. The Little Prince is a flight of high adventure and breathtaking imagination. Whilst Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton's' fun lovin characters from The 52 Storey Treehouse Andy and Terry come to life in a play by Richard Tulloch. The duo set off on a madcap adventure in a world of hungry caterpillars, angry vegetables and ninja snails. Don't miss this award winning production, winner of Best Production for Children at the 2015 Sydney Theatre Awards.

· Introduce the children to the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra as they present The Bush Concert - a highly participatory performance weaving the sounds of the Australian bush into an enchanting musical score by South Australian composer, Mark Simeon Ferguson. A heart-warming rhyme with a simple message: when things are looking down, get together and sing a song or dance. You'll feel great.

· Later in the season Something on Saturday celebrates cabaret as Adelaide Cabaret Festival presents the first ever Family Gala hosted by Artistic Directors Ali McGregor and Eddie Perfect featuring some of the hottest Adelaide Cabaret Festival stars getting downright juvenile, performing numbers that will have everyone laughing and dancing.

· Also part of the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, Frank Woodley stars in The Composer is Dead a perplexing orchestral 'whodunnit" starring legendary comedian Frank Woodley with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.

· Adelaide Cabaret Festival Artistic Director Ali McGregor will have the kids grooving and the parents thumpin in an afternoon of jumpin', jivin' jazz for the kids in her immensely popular Jazzamatazz.

· There are plenty of opportunities to tickle your funny bone with The Funny Farmers, The Carpe Idiotus Fun Show and My Family is Weirder than your Family.

The season will finish on 27 August with Heartland. Join the young choristers of Young Adelaide Voices in a celebratory vocal journey through the heart of Australian music. Imagine the Australian bush in drought, Lake Eyre in full flood and thunder storms in the north. Create rain, lightning, birds and insects as we explore our Australian heart.

Each week take advantage of the FREE Foundation Kids Corner Workshops. Each week an art and craft activity complements and is themed to each week's paid performance on offer. The workshops are committed to inspiring and stimulating young people and are funded by the Adelaide Festival Centre Foundation. The Foundation raises funds for projects that nurture young people at Adelaide Festival Centre, thereby inspiring young people through the arts, and it is for this reason the workshops are free.

Tickets are from $11.50 per person when purchasing tickets to four or more Something on Saturday performances (plus a $6.95 transaction fee per booking, not per ticket), and single tickets are from $14.50 per person (+ transaction fee).

2017 will celebrate Something on Saturday's 40th Anniversary and the 2017 program will kick off with a huge celebratory concert. To make sure the 2017 program captures all of your favourite performers both past, present and future we'd love for you to share your favourite Something on Saturday memories. Let us know on facebook.com/Familiesat AdelaideFestivalCentre what you've loved about the program and what Something on Saturday means to you or email us at something.onsaturday@adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au

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