Getting children into art needn’t look like carting them off piano lessons across town or trailing them through galleries on holiday where frankly the gift shop sees more action than the Rembrandts. Around the world, art festivals for children are making an ambitious attempt at opening worlds of theatre, dance, music and painting to little ones. In Singapore’s galleries, toddlers can crawl through towering sunflower installations designed at their scale; further north in China, slightly older children can lay around on cushions for a first encounter with the operatic form; over in Spain, your infants can keenly watch ballerinas play with light and shadow. These programmes are considered and thoughtful, built with children at the centre, unlike many an afterthought colouring table set up so their grown-ups might have a moment of peace. Art, as it turns out, can go far from a yawn-inducing diversion to be endured, turning into something children are meant to enjoy, respond to, and take part in wholeheartedly. As a PSA to parents hoping to raise tiny culture vultures, here are 5 art festivals for children around the world.
Macao International Arts Festival for Children, China
Dates to be announced – typically July-August
©Macao International Children’s Arts Festival
Run by the Macao Cultural Centre, this annual summer festival is devoted entirely to little ones, hosting performances, workshops and camps that fill the venue for nearly two months. The 2025 edition opened with large-scale stage productions that run the gamut ranging from a ballet version of Cinderella to Disney-inspired musicals and interactive plays set in outer space. Alongside these, the festival scheduled film screenings, music camps and family-friendly concerts designed for younger listeners. Workshops gave children a chance to engage in the arts themselves: they could try a Chinese opera crash course, learn the basics of shadow-puppet theatre, or join creative writing and reading sessions. A week-long pop-up library invited families to borrow books freely, while a “floating” book drop extended the life of unused titles contributed by local households. One of the most anticipated events, the Arts Camp, returned this year, with children spending the night inside the Cultural Centre to attend late-night storytelling and collaborative projects before sleeping in the theatre itself. Outdoors, the Happy Base carnival turned the plaza into a playground over the final two weekends throwing street performers, water games, foam fountains and game booths into the mix. Website.
The Gallery Children’s Biennale, Singapore
27 May 2025 – 16 February 2026
Rather than building a separate playground for children, the Gallery Children’s Biennale brings them directly into National Gallery Singapore’s galleries—spaces that are often seen as reserved for adult audiences. Since its launch in 2017, the Biennale has treated young visitors as active participants in the art conversation, inviting them to be curious, play and even remodel how art can be experienced. The fifth edition, running alongside the Gallery’s 10th anniversary and Singapore’s 60th birthday, is organised around the theme Tomorrow We’ll Be…, with eight multi-sensorial commissioned works by local and international artists. Among them is Fantasy by Malaysian duo Oscar Lee and Celine Tan, who transform pre-loved baby clothes, toys and packaging into sculptural tapirs and tigers—a piece partly inspired by their own toddler. Another installation, I WE THEM by Singapore artist and educator Shahrul Jamili, reimagines everyday chairs as characters, paired with a sunflower pit and heart-shaped cushions designed for babies and toddlers to crawl through. By placing children at the centre of the gallery experience, the event suggests that the art world has as much to learn from them as they do from it. Website.
Just So Festival, UK
21-23 August 2026
English