The Big Malarkey Festival
The Big Malarkey Festival is Hull's children's literature festival and will be held in East Park from 20 June - 24 June 2018.
Hull Culture & Leisure is establishing a new children's literature festival, funded by the James Reckitt Library Trust and Hull UK City of Culture 2017.
The festival is intended to become an annual event in the Hull festival calendar that will:
- Celebrate children's literature in all its forms
- Invite creativity through activities and workshops
- Promote the work of Hull Libraries for children, schools and families
This week long festival will bring together writers, illustrators, cartoonists, performers, musicians and artists to a colourful tented village in East Park.
'Malarkey Park' will be a place to explore the boundless world of stories for children - funny, dramatic, fantastical, futuristic, ancient, scary, ridiculous, sad, strange, true.
With numerous creative activities especially designed and produced for children, schools and families, and a special programme for the under-5s this is set to be a week of unmissable magical malarkey.
The programme for 2017 included:
Mon 26 - Fri 30 June / Schools Programme & Tea-Time Tasters
Half-day packages for schools KS1 - KS3, including author talks, hands-on workshops in writing, play-making, illustration, 3D model making, craft and digital art. Four themes include: Funny Bone, Cliffhanger, Jeopardy, Myth & Magic
Wed 28 June / James Reckitt Hull Children's Book Award
Now in it's 10th year, the book award brings together 400 children from Hull's primary schools to choose the winning author from the year's KS3 shortlist.
Sat 1 July - Sun 2 July / Family programme
Author talks and book signings, drop-in workshops, performances and story-telling, finishing with an all-dancing finale.
Award: £72,000
The Big Malarkey Festival will be back from 20 - 24 June 2018. See The Big Malarkey Festival website for details.
The Big Malarkey Festival 2017 / Photos by Jerome Whittingham