Octoburst Children's Festival Goes Online

Octoburst! - A Children's Festival is bursting through Esplanade's spikey domes to reach all our friends at home with a series of free-to-access digital programmes from 5 - 18 Oct 2020. Although the current COVID-19 situation has required us to stay safely at home, away from our favourite playing grounds, and from friends and loved ones, we see no reason why we shouldn't continue to celebrate Children's Day with the 18th edition of Octoburst! Online. This year, we move beyond the physical confines of our lovely 'Durian' to reach children of all ages and needs; be it at home, in school or with our friends in student care centres in Singapore.

It's all hands on deck at this year's Octoburst! as we invite everyone to participate in a very special online edition of PIParade. Through an open call, we invite children of all ages to be a part of our parade with percussion, dance or song-signing in video submissions that will come together in PIParade Online featuring music specially composed by Sandra Lim. Relive the wonders of your imagination in our first-ever festival commission, Hold My Hand, a table-top toy theatre (puppetry) presented as a film by Paper Monkey Theatre and Jean Tay; indulge in the psychedelic world of electronic music by Syndicate through Elastic Plastic Crew and Beats & Doodles; and come be a part of stories filled with adventure and wonder in The Putu Piring Incident of Batu Bulat by Adib Kosnan, Dalifah Shahril, Farez Najid and Sugie Phua.

This year, we will also be working closely with several Social Service Organisations as we present Alice's Topsy Turvy Tea Party by The Kueh Tutus in an exclusive interactive digital dance experience for families in crisis. In a time when recognising our differences and becoming more inclusive as a society is ever so important, we will be working closely with artists, educators and parents who have come together to generously share on the topic of diversity.

In difficult times, we grow stronger and better when we are together. This year, we invite you to be part of Esplanade's annual celebration of children, who are a source of strength and hope for a better tomorrow. As we look back on what has been a challenging year for many, let's take heart and ride this through with a generation of resilient, adaptable and strong young minds who will grow up with tales to tell and lessons to share with their own children. Here's to brighter and sunnier days ahead!

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