Experiencing the Joy of Life
Carousel Players
There’s something about the vibrancy and immediacy of live theatre that sparks the imagination and creates connections that everyone should experience.
And Carousel Players, Niagara’s flagship professional children’s theatre company, thinks children across Niagara should get a chance to experience that joy with their families.
It opens your mind and it opens your heart and you feel changed. It’s magical.
Annie Slade,
General Manager
Building on the success of its newly created Niagara Children’s Festival, which was launched in 2024, the theatre company is bringing its magic to more children across Niagara, with special events in Pelham and West Lincoln in May 2025. A $15,000 Community Grant from the Niagara Community Foundation will give rural families a chance to experience live theatre close to home, in addition to supporting community events and free programs during the festival’s main weekend in May.
Carousel Players has spent 53 years bringing live theatre to schools, but the Children’s Festival brings theatre to families.
“We want parents to be part of the kids’ experience with theatre,” said general manager Annie Slade. “We think it makes the experience stronger.”
In addition to half days of programming in Pelham and West Lincoln featuring Carousel Players productions of Pop! Pop! And Hare & Tortoise, craft workshops, live music, face painting and games, the festival will also feature a Bike Parade with decorated bicycles travelling as a parade through downtown streets in St. Catharines and a community market at Silver Spire United Church. These free events round-out a jam packed weekend of festival programming that includes performances from theatre companies travelling to Niagara from BC, Quebec, and the UK!
Slade said support from the Niagara Community Foundation also supports bursaries for local youth to attend Carousel Players Summer Theatre School and other drama classes. She said research shows that children who participate in live theatre have a chance to experience the world from a different perspective, and in-turn, understand more about themselves and the world. “It opens your mind and it opens your heart, and you feel changed. It’s magical,” she said.
“It’s so important to give children the opportunity to broaden their horizons and to experience the joys of life through the arts,” Slade said. “We are thankful to the Niagara Community Foundation for uplifting that goal.”