Belfast Children’s Festival 2026 programme is now live, boasting over 100 events and performances to suit everyone, from the youngest to the not-so-young! This year the Young at Art team has curated a festival filled with joy, entertainment and magical experiences. The 2026 Festival programme focuses on international talent, accessible performances, Irish premieres and new creations from local artists.
‘The Little Prince’, from The Egg Theatre and Toby Thompson in Bath, is full of magic and entertaining for children and adults alike. Based on Saint-Exupéry’s timeless classis, follow The Little Prince as he wanders the universe in search of the true meaning of friendship, makes friends, learns things, and notices the most important things in life.
Alongside friendship, the Festival brings kindness and love to audiences, wrapped up the beautiful ‘Be Kind,’ an intimate circus theatre experience for babies aged 6-18 months. In this sensory performance of sound, colour and movement, from Weisse Circustheater, based in the Netherlands, two circus artists take a sensory journey where little ones are introduced to acrobatics and juggling. After the performance, the artists invite the little ones to explore the stage with them.
Ahead of the launch, Eibhlín de Barra, Director of Young at Art said; “We’re delighted to present the 28th Belfast Children’s Festival filled with happiness, joy and kindness, as well as side splitting laughter! We will bring over 100 events to families during the Festival this year, with offerings for babies, families, intergenerational groups and neurodivergent audiences, all of which will bring the city to life and fill the streets with laughter and fun.
“We will be joined by Weisse Circus from the Netherlands with Be Kind; Second Hand Dance’s The Sticky Dance which will literally see children and families tape, stick and groove together, and get ‘stuck in’ to the dance! For dance lovers, the UK & Irish premiere of Shall we….. together is simply beautiful. For the first time we will be bringing this performance from Flemish company tour petit to older generations through a series of planned intergenerational activities with care homes and nursery schools, where young children and adults can participate together. Barrowland Ballet will join us again from Scotland with, ‘The Unexpected Gift’ to reveal playfulness, creativity and imagination as the gifts. Dancers create a sensory wonderland from left-over boxes, ribbons and wrapping in this inclusive dance-theatre performance especially for children with complex needs, allowing playfulness between the audience and performers. Audiences will be splitting their sides laughing at the antics of Circus duo Cirque Content Pour Peu in By Trial and Error, which brings the funny side to drama and team-working.
“We are looking forward to featuring performances from local artists with Irish Premieres from long time festival-favourites Maiden Voyage Dance and Circusful, Emmen Jude Donnelly and Stephen Beggs. There will be many free events and workshops for children and their grownups with our Festival Family Day Out taking place on Saturday 7th March, the first weekend of the festival.
“As ever, we simply couldn’t bring the quality of Festival to our communities without the support of our funders. We continue to be indebted to our principal funders Arts Council NI and Belfast City Council for supporting children and families to immerse themselves in creativity, illuminating their imagination and love of fun.
“The Festival will this year host 35 distinguished delegates including representatives from across the world providing a wonderful platform for local artists to export the best performance work we have for young audiences to international festivals.” Eibhlín added.
Roisín McDonough, Chief Executive, Arts Council of Northern Ireland who are Principal Funders of the Festival said;” For almost three decades, Young at Art has been taking children, young people and families on a creative journey with the Belfast Children’s Festival. Through expert curation of often groundbreaking local, national and international work especially made for children and young people, the festival is increasing the understanding of a wide range of artforms and showing people at a pivotal stage of development that ‘the arts are for you’.
As principal funder, the Arts Council is indebted to the National Lottery and National Lottery Players for the investment we make in the annual Belfast Children’s Festival and in the important work that Young at Art does throughout the year, engaging and inspiring children of all backgrounds and abilities through the arts. We applaud Young at Art for another colourful, fun and inspiring Belfast Children’s Festival programme and look forward to another hugely enjoyable event, for all the family.”
Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Tracy Kelly, added: “Belfast Children’s Festival is a wonderful celebration of creativity and imagination and I’m proud that Belfast City Council continues to support a festival that places children, families and inclusivity at its heart.
“From international performances to inspiring local talent, the Festival brings our city to life. It’s fantastic to see Belfast welcoming artists and audiences from across the world, and I would encourage families and communities to get involved and enjoy everything this vibrant programme has to offer.”
Now in its 28th year, the biggest children’s festival in Ireland and the UK will run from 5-14 March 2026, with a focus on fun, inclusivity, diversity and sustainability. View the programme https://youngatart.co.uk/whats-on/ Community groups wishing to secure tickets can apply bookings@youngatart.co.uk
To see the 27th annual Belfast Children’s Festival highlights check out our Launch video