From 20 January to 8 February, the 10th Culture and Art Education Festival Beavers is taking place in Ljubljana. All festival events are admission-free.

In the past ten years the festival developed into one of the most important events in Slovenia dedicated to culture and art education. The first year admission-free cultural events made 7000 visitors happy, and last year already over 17,000.

In Ljubljana visitors can attend 164 events held at over 40 sites prepared by more than 70 different producers in the field of culture for children and the youth. Each year the festival puts the spotlight on a specific topic; for instance, in previous years we focussed on books, fine arts, music, architecture and design, ecology and multiculturalism. This year the main theme of the festival is poetry, using a playful and fun approach to familiarize the audience with it. We are going to enter the world of poetry through different musical, theatre, literary and film events, play with it in numerous workshops where we are going to find rhymes and compose verses… We are going to learn about Slovenian poets, those who are no longer with us but have left an important mark on children’s poetry, as well as those who are still delighting us with their writings and performances.

The opening, again this year held at the Mladinsko Theatre, is dedicated to the poetry of Tone Pavček. A few years ago Tomaž Grom and the institute Zavod Sploh decided to transform the sounds and colours of Pavček’s verses into music in the project Sun and Sunflowers around the World, and the originality of the performance is certainly reinforced by commissioned translations into foreign languages which we are going to hear performed by Slovenian and foreign artists.

We are going to listen to verses from numerous Slovenian poets at the closing event of the festival, as well, held on the Slovenian cultural holiday in the Kino Šiška Centre for Urban Culture. In the theatre and music play Sunflower on the Moon produced by the Ljubljana Puppet Theatre its creators are going to perform songs opening children’s emotional worlds and talking about feelings – about internal love turmoils, fear, courage, resistance, misfortune, friendship, grieving and happiness. The creators found inspiration in the anthology of Slovenian children’s poetry titled Sunflower on the Shoulder with its fourth edition recently published.

Beavers are again joining the international project Small Size Days with numerous events for the youngest organised around the world between 26 and 28 January.

The festival this year is hosting a performance and artists from abroad, as well. In the Modern Gallery visitors can take part in the interactive multimedia installation Dance Museum by the VRUM Performing Arts Collective coming to Ljubljana from Croatia.