International Children’s Festival at Wolf Trap

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WASHINGTON―The International Children’s Festival has brought hundreds of thousands of children and their families to Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts since 1971, according to the Festival’s website.

In 2009, the Festival, which is the premier international arts education experience in the U.S., is open to the public on Sept. 19 and 20 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. EST. at the Wolf Trap National Park in Vienna, Virginia.

Rain or shine, the Festival is planned to go on. Luckily, Sept. 19, was a gorgeous day in Northern Virginia. Thousands of children of all ages and their friends and family enjoyed the myriad of performances and the outdoors at the Festival on a warm sunny Saturday.

Headlining the event was the U.S. dance group sensation, the TAP KIDS. This year’s Festival features young performers from Spain, the Republic of Georgia and Serbia, and 400 other local young artists representing different forms of art and culture, according to the Festival’s press release.

The performances were conducted simultaneously in half a dozen different locations across the Wolf Trap National Park.

The Spanish dance by the Cultural & Folk Art Association “Sveti Sava” received lively applause on the Filene Center Stage, the largest stage at the Wolf Trap National Park. The TAP KIDS excited audiences later in the afternoon.

FINALE: The Finale of the 2009 International Childrens Festival at the Filene Center Stage at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts.(Du Won Kang/The Epoch Times)

Young performers from the Minghui School drew cheers from the audience as they demonstrated the ancient culture of China through music and dance at Theatre-in-the-Woods at the Wolf Trap National Park.
 
The Wolf Trap National Park is known to be the nation’s only national park devoted solely to the performing arts.

Fairfax County Public School fifth graders got a special treat. Busloads of them got to see this year’s International Children’s Festival at Wolf Trap National Park from Sept. 15-18, according to the Festival’s press release.

Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia, the Honorary Chair of the 2009 International Children’s Festival, said in a letter on the Festival’s website, “The arts are an integral component of each and every child’s education… Since 1971, the Festival has brought area children and their families to Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts to experience new cultures and learn about the significance of the arts in our lives, our community, and throughout the world.”

One of the originators of the Festival was the late Catherine Filene Shouse, founder of Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts.

For more information, visit http://www.internationalchildrensfestival.org/