This year’s highlights include REPLAY: A Limitless Recycled Playground, which is part installation and part adventure playground. REPLAY is created entirely from waste materials repurposed for fun by The Herd Theatre. Additionally, Southbank’s Come and Sing Days aim to boost young people’s confidence and enthusiasm for singing in their secondary schools, as well as to encourage participation in singing groups both within and beyond school. We had the opportunity to speak with Ruth Hardie, the Head of Public Programming at the Southbank Centre, about the festival and what visitors can look forward to.
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Ruth, thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to speak with us. How has your experience as a Music Outreach Officer at the University of Cambridge shaped your approach to curating the Imagine Festival?
That feels like a blast from the past! But, I guess for me, all of the roles I’ve had have been broadly about access. How do you create invitations, environments, and events that welcome people from all backgrounds and all walks of life into them? What will be exciting and interesting and inspire families to explore and be creative together, and how do we remove as many obstacles for people as possible, that might stop them from being able to join the events. So, for Imagine, it’s a broad programme of amazing arts events for ages 0-11 and their families, across performance, literature, dance, music, comedy, and more. Some of it is paid for but lots of it is free. You can bring your own food or buy on-site, it’s all relaxed and there are a number of shows with additional access provisions too. There’s something for everyone I hope, which is what it’s all about.
What are the key challenges you face in curating a festival that caters to such a wide age range, from 0 to 11 years old?
Firstly, it’s important to say that it isn’t just me curating the whole thing. Imagine is a big team effort and we’ve got an incredible team of programmers and producers seeing work for families and developing work for families year-round ahead of the festival. In terms of challenges, it’s actually a real gift to be able to have such a range of work. It means you can offer something different at each point in a child’s development, and it’s also helpful for families who have children that fall in different age groups so they can all be engaged in an appropriate way. I think it can be hard to get across why we suggest specific ages for some events, as people want to go to what sounds interesting which I understand, but we really try to suggest when a child will get the most from an experience, and also that helps other children of the same age to get the most from it too. This year we’re experimenting with some specific age guidance zones, particular for older children, so they can explore things in more depth.
Imagine Festival is now in its 23rd year. How do you ensure the festival remains fresh and engaging for returning families?
No two years are the same, and we’re constantly watching new work, meeting new artists, and developing new ideas so no two years of the programme look the same. The festival has more than 40 different events on offer, so it’s impossible for a family to see it and experience it all in just one visit too! It can be helpful if some formats repeat for families though, so for example, we often end each day on the Clore Ballroom with something more calming and relaxing so families can leave in a chilled way. This year we have the meditation Station every day to close the day, and I think the familiarity of repeating formats can also help some families to return with confidence.
Can you share any specific themes or highlights from this year’s festival that you’re particularly excited about?
The festival is always about exploring your creativity and trying something new, but we don’t have a specific theme this year. It coincides with International Mother Language day and so we have a few events that really celebrate the diversity of London and the number of languages here, including a Singing around the world day, and a translations workshop. I think they will be really interesting events. I love the big dance days on the Ballroom and HomeBros Afro Dance Day will be so much fun and is totally free. I also got to see a run-through of There’s a bear on My Chair last week, and it’s a gorgeous show for under 7s, with plenty for the grown ups to enjoy too!
How does the REPLAY installation contribute to the festival’s overall mission of sparking creativity and imagination in children?
RePlay is something we’re really proud of as it was commissioned and co-produced by Southbank Centre, working with The Herd Theatre, who are experts in children’s theatre and Play. The whole space is designed to inspire families to see the fun and play potential of seemingly everyday things. It supports and encourages all types of play, building creative imaginations, physical play, and even helps adults with play prompts if they find play difficult. The idea of RePlay is you can come back again and again and each time find a new way to play in the space with what you find. It also has a really good message of leaving the space (and the planet) as you found it so others can enjoy it too.
What role do you believe the arts play in early childhood development, and how does the Imagine Festival support this?
The arts are an important and essential aspect of all of our lives, and particularly for children. Through creative pursuits, we develop imagination and collaboration skills, communication and negotiation skills, the ability to problem solve and grow our emotional literacy. We learn new ways to express ourselves and our ideas through arts as well as supporting our wellbeing and how we make sense of the world and our place in it. Opportunities to develop creativity are getting squeezed in school curriculums, and so access to creative pursuits outside of school are really important.
How do you balance the inclusion of emerging and established artists in the festival’s lineup?
As the largest Arts centre in the UK, we’re always working across the spectrum of well-known and high profile artists, alongside supporting emerging and less-known artists in their early careers. I think it’s really important that we have opportunities for both in the programme, and a big message is about coming and trying something new, whether that be seeing an author give a talk about a book you’ve never heard of, or seeing some comedy at Big Laughs for Little Bellies. I think audiences feel confident in trying new things and seeing artists they’ve not heard of at Imagine because they can trust the quality of the work after 23 years, and they know it’ll be a great day out regardless.
What strategies do you employ to ensure accessibility and inclusivity for all families attending the festival?
Access and inclusion are really important for Imagine, and all of our programmes at Southbank Centre. Firstly, we really think about the breadth of work on our stage and the stories and experiences they depict, so that all audiences can see themselves reflected in the programme and we also have events over a number of days and some in the early evening to hopefully accommodate various shift patterns and working hours. We know that cost can be a barrier too, so we work hard to make sure at least 30% of the festival can be accessed for free, and you can bring your own packed lunch too, so prices shouldn’t stop families coming for a fun day out. We also have Pay What You Can events and some lower priced ticket event options too. The festival is relaxed, with a relaxed approach to natural movement and sound for anyone who’d benefit from a more relaxed environment,and you can borrow noise cancelling headphones or one of our sensory backpacks if that would help your family have a better experience. We also have additional access provision including BSL interpretation and audio described performances. There’s always more we can do though, so happy to receive feedback and suggestions of ways we could be more accessible in future.
Can you share a memorable moment or feedback from past festivals that have influenced your planning for this year’s event?
We used to get lots of feedback that there were too many things happening only once and so people felt like they missed things. Now, we’ve got more long running shows so there are multiple days you can see them, and we repeat the free Ballroom event in the morning and the afternoon, so if you’re seeing a show at some point, you don’t miss the big free joining in moments.
How do you engage with the local community to incorporate their ideas and feedback into the festival planning process?
We try to work with local artists and audiences to feed into what happens in our spaces and this year during the festival we’ll be recruiting audiences to take part in some focus groups to help inform the next year of programming, to make sure we’re responding to our local audiences thoughts and ideas.
Imagine Festival runs from Tuesday 18th – Sun 23rd Feb 2025 For further information on this year’s festival, please visit the Southbank Centre website.
Ruth-Hardie-Photography by Pete-Woodhead /Southbank Centre Photography by India Roper-Evans
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