Carousel Theatre For Young People To Launch FAMILY FORWARD FESTIVAL On Family Day Weekend
The inaugural festival runs in February on Granville Island in Vancouver.
By: A.A. Cristi Jan. 12, 2026
Carousel Theatre for Young People will present the 1st Annual Family Forward Festival over the Family Day long weekend, running Saturday, February 14 through Monday, February 16, 2026. The new initiative will take place across multiple venues on Granville Island and is designed as a celebration of family in all its forms.
All festival events are entry by donation, with a suggested contribution of $15. Tickets and reservations are available at carouseltheatre.ca.
The Family Forward Festival will feature a range of programming including storytelling, drag performances, documentary screenings, live music, dance parties, and staged readings, with events suitable for a wide range of ages. Activities will be held at Carousel Theatre Studios and Performance Works on Granville Island.
“This festival is about creating space for families of all kinds—biological, chosen, and intergenerational—to come together around live performance,” said Dave Deveau, Co-Artistic and Managing Director of Carousel Theatre for Young People.
FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS
Saturday, February 14
The weekend begins with Storytime with Peach Cobblah & Rose Butch at Carousel Theatre Studios, followed by Drag Doc Double Bill: Becoming Ruby & Drag Is For Everyone! at Performance Works. The evening includes documentary screenings and a live drag performance featuring Shay Dior and Karmella Barr.
Sunday, February 15
Programming includes Club Carousel: Baby Rave, a kid-focused dance event, Buwa: Live in Concert, marking the Nigerian Canadian artist’s first Vancouver appearance, and The Gift Exchange by Meghan Gardiner, presented as a staged reading. The reading is directed by Larisse Campbell and features Carol Chu, Tanner Zerr, Emma Slipp, Chris Lam, and Gabrielle Nebrida-Pepin.
Monday, February 16
The festival concludes with The Family Flame, a storytelling event hosted by Deborah Williams, followed by the CTYP Community Celebration, a closing dance party featuring music by DJ Softieshan and the announcement of Carousel Theatre’s upcoming 50th Anniversary Season.
Founded in 1976, Carousel Theatre for Young People is British Columbia’s only professional theatre company dedicated exclusively to young audiences, presenting local, national, and international work, commissioning new plays, mentoring emerging artists, and offering a drama school for ages 3 to 17. The company is based on Granville Island and creates work on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations.
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