QPAC Marks Success at 2014 OUT OF THE BOX Festival

The 2014 Out of the Box festival, held at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) and across the Cultural Precinct between 25 June and 2 July, has been heralded a resounding success.

The festival was awarded a Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Vice Chancellor's Award, received rave reviews and saw a 12 per cent increase on total attendance from the previous festival held in 2012.

A total of 103,230 people attended the festival which for the first time was held across the end of school term and the start of the school holidays and featured performances, free events, workshops, installations and a keynote address.

Festival Director Brendan Ross said that the festival resonated with its audience and that the high attendance figures and positive feedback from the community was encouraging.

"Out of the Box is a festival that actively encourages children to be creators and participants in artistic and cultural pursuits. The festival began 22 years ago and was built on the foundation that enriching early lives through the arts contributes to developing resilient children," said Mr Ross.

"This year, the festival presented 400 performances across 46 seasons. The program centred around the theme human, animal, monster, friend and showcased two new theatre productions that were especially commissioned for the festival as well as premiere theatre pieces and 24 newly created exhibitions.

"Coinciding with Out of the Box was the Second International Teaching Artists Conference (ITAC2) which was jointly hosted by QPAC and QUT. The second day of the conference was held at QPAC and gave delegates at the conference the chance to put theory into practice by leading workshops for children.

There was also a keynote address which was open to the public, by Mr Russell Granet from Lincoln Center Education who provided inspiration and advice to many practicing artists and teachers," said Mr Ross.

Arts Minister Ian Walker praised all those involved in the delivery of this festival and congratulated QPAC for their work with QUT and other industry partners to deliver a festival that attracted record attendances.

"Out of the Box is a big festival that delivers cultural experiences for thousands of children. For the 2014 festival QPAC collaborated with local company Circa to create a new work, Carnival of the Animals.

"Circa is one of Australia's most internationally successful arts companies and their partnership with QPAC to produce Carnival of the Animals has provided a wonderful experience for children and also ensures that there are opportunities to create new works right here in Queensland.

"QPAC also worked with arts organisations across the Cultural Precinct to deliver workshops and activities that transformed the space into a children's wonderland.

"Since it began, Out of the Box has partnered with QUT to ensure the festival is grounded in research and contemporary practice in early childhood education and this year that partnership was formally recognised by QUT with a QUT Vice Chancellor's Award for Innovative and Creative Practice and Community Partnership," said Mr Walker.

The next Out of the Box festival will be held in 2016 with dates to be announced.