{"id":14132,"date":"2017-05-11T15:04:44","date_gmt":"2017-05-11T14:04:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/?p=14132"},"modified":"2017-05-11T15:08:58","modified_gmt":"2017-05-11T14:08:58","slug":"its-a-family-affair-at-sunflowerfest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/2017\/05\/its-a-family-affair-at-sunflowerfest\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s a family affair at Sunflowerfest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Borne out of their own sons\u2019 musical pursuits at young ages, Sunflowerfest organisers husband and wife Michael and Vanessa Magowan have worked tirelessly over the past years to develop the leading family-friendly force in the local music and arts scene.<\/h1>\n
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Eva Keane, age 8, takes a time out to pose with Sunflowerfest\u2019s KidsZone organisers Barra Doherty and Aoife Maguire at W5, Belfast, as the announcement is made of this year\u2019s KidsZone line-up for the popular summer festival. Northern Ireland\u2019s leading family-friendly music and arts festival, Sunflowerfest offers a full programme of events for young people which this year will incorporate the overall theme of \u2018A Parallel Universe\u2019 and highlight the partnerships with RSPB and NI Science Festival through interactive activities which will act as a fusion of art and science. For more information on this year\u2019s family friendly offering at Sunflowerfest visit www.sunflowerfest.co.uk.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Each year Sunflowerfest fosters a family-friendly spirit of community, co-creation and inclusivity \u2013 in keeping with national WISE and GIST education initiatives \u2013 which will be seen on Tubby\u2019s farm, 28th-30th<\/sup> July as the festival proudly showcases Northern Ireland\u2019s technological and creative heritage, with installations across the site demonstrating a unique world-class fusion of art and science in keeping with this year\u2019s overall festival theme, \u2018A Parallel Universe.\u2019<\/p>\n

Having become an integral and respected part of local families\u2019 summer diaries, with a huge range of interactive family-friendly music, art, theatre and comedy activities available across the weekend, the festival will have something to offer all backgrounds and interests. This year, an exciting new partnership with NI Science Festival will offer even more ambitious opportunities for young people to express their creativity in an inclusive and educational environment including features from W5, with more to be announced.<\/p>\n

As always, Sunflowerfest\u2019s KidsZone, led by Aoife Maguire and Barra Doherty, will deliver exciting arts activities that celebrate creativity and actively encourage the talents and imaginations of young people. Kids can look forward to getting their hands dirty with interactive arts and science projects as well as joining in on educational workshops in collaboration with Sunflowerfest charity partners RSPB and The Eden Project Communities, who will continue to give children opportunities to learn about the natural world and the greater community.<\/p>\n

Following their time in the KidsZone, young people and their parents are also encouraged to get in touch with their inner bliss in the Tonic Health & Wellness area of the festival. Tonic @ Sunflowerfest will highlight a range of wellbeing options on offer for individuals and families providing a range of natural therapies, creativity & wellbeing, crafts, products, workshops, yoga, tai chi, dance, fitness, readings, a healthy kids area, sound baths, drumming circles and many other immersive performances and experiences, offering time-out to festival goers while promoting a healthy way of life.<\/p>\n

\u201cA summer music festival isn\u2019t always the first place parents would think to take their kids, but Sunflowerfest has really cultivated a family friendly atmosphere over the years which organisers and guests alike have helped to nourish,\u201d said Aoife Maguire, KidsZone organiser.\u00a0 \u201cNot only are many of the kids\u2019 activities hosted in a safe and secure dedicated space within the farm, but the camp sites as well are kept separate for families and non-families to ensure everyone gets the festival experience they desire, and this year there are added camping options for families including staying in sustainable cardboard \u2018Kartents\u2019 as well as glamping with Yippee tents.\u00a0 With all of us living such \u2018plugged-in\u2019 lifestyles these days, Sunflowerfest offers great opportunities for families to unplug, reconnect, and get back to nature on Tubby\u2019s Farm.\u201d<\/p>\n

Continuing the legacy of last year\u2019s Tourism NI\u2019s Year of Food and Drink venue during the festival, organisers have also partnered with one of Northern Ireland\u2019s most well-known home-grown eateries, Boojum, who will join forces this year to help keep families and artists fed and watered for the duration of the festival.<\/p>\n

Guests of all ages can also look forward to additional foodie treats including, cooking demonstrations, bake offs and tastings by catering students from SERC, Lisburn showcasing the best in Northern Irish food and drink.<\/p>\n

Staunch advocates of getting young people involved in music at a young age, this year\u2019s festival will see the introduction of two unique programmes which will prove Sunflowerfest\u2019s investment in helping to foster the next generation of talent.\u00a0 Up-and-coming talent will take to the stage after coming through the Sunflowerfest \u2018Roots\u2019 and \u2018School of Rock\u2019 programmes which have seen young musicians and bands paired with industry experts to gain advice and training to help achieve their musical dreams.<\/p>\n

Sunflowerfest, a community interest company acknowledges Tourism NI, Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council and 2017 charity partner, RSPB for their support in continuing to make Sunflowerfest the leading family-friendly festival in Northern Ireland.
\nEarly bird tickets have sold out but Tier 2 Tickets for Sunflowerfest now available at just \u00a374.95 (includes 2 children, aged 15 and under) and \u00a364.95 for students \u2013 now available online at www.sunflowerfest.co.uk<\/a>. Additional bands, artists, and activities will be announced via Sunflowerfest\u2019s website, Facebook<\/a>, and Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Borne out of their own sons\u2019 musical pursuits at young ages, Sunflowerfest organisers husband and wife Michael and Vanessa Magowan have worked tirelessly over the past years to develop the leading family-friendly force in the local music and arts scene. Each year Sunflowerfest fosters a family-friendly spirit of community, co-creation and inclusivity \u2013 in keeping … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14132"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14132"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14132\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14138,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14132\/revisions\/14138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}