Your Turn to Shine!
Performance and Visual Art opportunities
Application & Guidelines
OBJECTIVE
The 12th annual Surrey International Children’s Festival, May 26 – 28, 2016, located at the Surrey
Arts Centre and Bear Creek Park, wishes to invite Surrey schools to showcase the incredible talent
of their students. The Festival is a professionally run event, with highly skilled staff, crew &
technicians and we program professional performers & artists. This is a wonderful opportunity for
students to learn and to enhance their performing skills in a friendly and supportive atmosphere and
to showcase their visual artwork to upwards of 18,000 people that attend the Festival over the three
days. What a fantastic way to deepen the artistic explorations of our students, giving them
confidence and pride in their accomplishments.
ELIGIBILITY
Eligible:
 Elementary or Secondary schools from School District #36.
 Independent or Private schools located in Surrey.
 Participation is on a first come first serve basis. If you are receiving this form, please respect
the deadline listed below.
 Schools designated high need by SD36 may be eligible for tickets to a performance at the
Festival. Please note: this is dependent on sponsorship & grants and not guaranteed, but
we try our best so please make note on your application!
APPLICATION PROCESS
1. Please read the complete information package and application form. If you have general
questions regarding your application above and beyond the information listed in this package,
please contact Marnie Perrin, Festival Artistic Director of the Surrey International Children’s
Festival (SICF), at MLPerrin@surrey.ca.
2. Marnie will follow up to inform you if your application has been accepted. As a part of the
review process, a Festival staff member may contact you for further information.
3. If your application is accepted, it is imperative that the proposal is followed through as
intended; we may not be able to accommodate any unapproved changes. The Festival is
scheduling time on the Community Spirit Stage, reserving spaces on our art display boards
and making arrangements for you on site. Please consider all aspects of meeting your
proposal’s success before you submit your application and continue discussing any potential
changes with Festival staff.
APPLICATION DEADLINE
The deadline for submitting this Community Participation form is February 26, 2016
Please contact Festival Artistic Director Marnie Perrin directly
if you have any questions or need help filling out this form:
604-501-5583 or MLPerrin@surrey.ca
To mail in this form: 13750 88th Ave, Surrey BC V3W 3L1
or FAX number: 604-501-5581
Please Note: Depending on participation demand, we may give priority to schools that have
not participated in the program before.
APPLICATION ASSESMENT



Applications will be assessed on forms being completely and accurately filled out. We
appreciate the time and care you put into this.
All proposals will be discussed with the artistic and technical staff at the Festival.
We may not be able to accept all proposals. If we feel that a proposal may not be feasible
due to project scope, audience flow, length of proposed work, restrictions of our Festival site
or other Festival concerns, Festival staff will be sure to discuss this with you and, if
appropriate, see if the proposal can be adjusted.
BENEFITS




Students get to work alongside professional performers and artists at a professionally led
children’s festival.
Recognition as one of the chosen schools on the 2016 Surrey International Children’s
Festival Website Festival News page.
Recognition as one of the chosen schools on the 2016 Surrey International Children’s
Festival Website, under the Things to Do page.
Recognition in one teachers’ newsletter.
SCHOOL’S RESPONSIBILITIES










Provide approved artwork or performance as per application proposal, with any additions or
adjustments as agreed upon with the Festival Artistic Director.
Artwork must be sent to the Festival by May 1st, 2015 and will be on display all three days of
the Festival.
Performers scheduled on the Community Spirit Stage must contact Festival Technical
Director, Dave Brownell, DVBrownell@surrey.ca or 604-501-5573, by April 24th, 2015.
Please confirm any technical requirements and equipment drop off and daytime storage with
Dave.
For all performances scheduled on the Community Spirit Stage, please check in with your
stage manager once you arrive on site at the beginning of the day.
Arrive at your venue no later than 15 minutes prior to your performance.
Follow the schedule. There may be other performances onsite that are sound sensitive.
Performing at the wrong time may disrupt another performance.
Driving on site during Festival hours is not permitted under any circumstance. Please
discuss this with Dave if this is a concern, (instrument/equipment drop off, etc.)
If your performances are scheduled for performing areas A, B or C, and you will require
assistance with any equipment, please contact Dave Brownell, DVBrownell@surrey.ca or
604-501-5573, by April 22, 2016.
On Wednesday, May 25 from 3:30 – 4:30 Festival staff will give a tour to orientate you to the
site and where the performing areas are. We strongly suggest you take advantage of this,
so you know how to navigate the site once it is open and full of happy smiling children.
Please RSVP that you will attend to Marnie: MLPerrin@surrey.ca
Unfortunately, due to the large scope of this initiative and the number of participating
schools, we are not able to offer any free tickets or transportation to the Festival. Schools
designated high need by SD36 may be eligible for subsidized tickets to the Festival
depending on sponsorship and granting applications. Please identify on your application if
you are a high need school.
WITHDRAWAL
If for some unforeseen circumstance you will not be able to participate after you have accepted this
opportunity, the Festival asks that you withdraw no later than April 22, 2016. After this date, it will
not be possible for our website with your school listed as a partner and the programming spaces
reserved for you to be changed.
FESTIVAL INFO & MAP
Festival Hours
 9am-2:30pm on Thursday, May 26, 2016
 9am-2:30pm on Friday, May 27, 2016
 10:30am-7:30pm on Saturday, May 28, 2016
Site access is free, with many different art activities for free. If you purchase tickets to a
performance http://www.surrey.ca/childrensfestival/50.aspx , you will receive a free wristband to
take part in all of the art activities http://www.surrey.ca/childrensfestival/66.aspx . Once you have
your wristbands you are welcome to enjoy the site all three days.
VISUAL ART INFO: ART WALK
D: Art display boards:
Our art display boards are vertical 48” x horizontal 24”. We use them for our Art Walk initiative,
http://www.surrey.ca/childrensfestival/88.aspx and are happy to hear about other initiatives that
would fit on them. We will be sure to credit your school and/or your division, whichever you prefer.
Please think carefully if you are willing to give your artwork to the Festival. All pieces must be
weather resistant; spring in Surrey usually involves some springtime showers. We can’t guarantee
that we will be able to return your artwork in one piece or even at all. While we will make every
effort to return your artwork if you request it, the artwork is open to the public for viewing, and
potentially for touching; we don’t have any staff protecting the artwork.
All artwork must be ready for display and received by the Festival by May 1, 2016. We are not able
to provide any “finishing touches” to the artwork. Please note: the artwork is mounted onto the
display boards with staple guns. If this is a concern for your work, please discuss it with Marnie,
MLPerrin@surrey.ca
PERFORMING INFO
The Community Spirit Stage:
The Community Spirit Stage is in a 30' by 30' tent on a 32' x 32' platform. The usable stage area will
be closer to 24' wide by 20' deep to allow for sound system stacking downstage and road case and
equipment storage and power distribution upstage, hidden behind simple pipe and drape; there is
no upstage crossover. There will be about 9' 8" of clearance above the entire stage area. The deck
will be painted plywood. There will be no show lighting. There will be at least one stair unit located
on the stage left side, down stage left. The stage will be about 30" high off the ground at the front.
A, B & C performing areas:
Here is a low stress way to incorporate your students’ performance with the Festival: try one of our
informal performing areas, they are as large or as small as you need. If you are interested in
bringing students to perform onsite and not necessarily on a stage, check out our performers’
information below:
A, B & C performance information:

Placements on site: A, B & C are performing areas we’ve suggested onsite that are
conducive to good performing spaces, not too close to other loud performances and you will
have access to crowds of people. They are not built stages and they are, therefore, open to
the elements. Please prepare your students for either bright sunny days or springtime rain.
Depending on how many groups request these performance spaces, and depending on the
nature of your performance, the Festival may select one of the performing areas for you,
either A, B or C. Please respect your placement, as taking over another area may interfere
with another group.

Creating your performing area: You will need to create your performing area once you
arrive to get ready for your performance. Your performance can be in the round or in a
proscenium style staging, you decide what works best for your performance. To create your
performance area, you can be very creative. Some examples include a large piece of fabric
running along the ground to mark your area, simple flags with ribbon tied in between, or
decorated brown paper bags with sand put in the bottom to weigh them down. Think of
something that can be picked up and moved if you are planning on performing more than
once.

Gathering a crowd: Select someone in your group to act as the town crier. It could be a
student, if he or she can be mature enough to be loud and clear in their message. It can be
two people with flags walking through the site announcing, “In five minutes over by the circus
activity come watch an amazing performance by XX Elementary.” Encourage people as they
are walking by to stop to watch. Have someone act as your Emcee, so that people know
when the performance begins, and more importantly, when it’s time to give a big round of
applause. It’s a very busy site, if people don’t know something is happening and that they
are invited to watch, they may just walk by. Even during the performance, try to have
someone who will invite people over to watch.

Performance jitters: Your group may be very experienced, they may have had many
performances for your school population, friends and adults, but coming to the Festival may
be a completely new experience for them. We know the audience will be very accepting and
appreciative, but they are also complete strangers, which may be very intimidating to your
students. Please prepare them that they may get pre-performance jitters, in other words,
stage fright, and that this is a normal and expected response. It’s these “butterflies” that give
performances the high energy audiences appreciate. But as the “show must go on,” be sure
to encourage them, praise their efforts and potentially be prepared to step in and help the
performance along if a student completely freezes up. (Make sure your Emcee is very
familiar with the performance, so they will know if they need to step in!)
PARKING
http://www.surrey.ca/childrensfestival/79.aspx
Unfortunately we cannot reserve parking for your group, but we suggest you plan on spending the
whole day onsite. Coming early gives more opportunities to find parking onsite. As there are many
parking spots, with two external parking areas, you’ll be sure to find a spot. External parking areas
are located South of 88th Ave on King George Blvd, with the entrance on the East side of King
George Blvd and again, South of 88th Ave on 140th Ave, with the entrance on the West side of 140th
Ave. If you are arriving by school bus, the drop off area is right in front of the Community Spirit
Stage.
CARPOOLING TIPS



Leave plenty of time to find parking and to meet up with your group. Set a meeting area
before you arrive onsite. For example, by the Community Spirit Stage, or in front of the
Surrey Arts Centre.
Encourage your adult drivers to park and then walk with their students onsite. We’ve had
adult drivers drop off their students then go and find parking, leaving young students
unattended.
Make sure to empty your car of any visible objects. Nothing can ruin a Festival day more
than returning to your car and seeing that your stinky old gym bag was too much temptation
for someone and your car has been broken into.
Community Participation
Application Form
School contact information
Name of School: Click here to enter text.
Mailing Address: Click here to enter text.
Phone number: Click here to enter text.
ONSITE contact information
Name: Marnie Perrin
Title: Click here to enter
Phone: Click here to enter
Cell: Click here to enter
Email: Click here to enter
text.
text.
text.
text.
Day onsite & tickets to a Festival show
Will you be attending the pre-festival tour, Click here to enter text.
Wednesday the 21st 3:30 – 4:30?
What day are you interested in coming onsite? Click here to enter text.
If you have tickets to a performance, please list Click here to enter text.
performance, day and time:
This is important if you are performing as we will schedule your
performance around your Festival show
SD 36 Designated High Need School?
YES Click here to enter text.
NO Click here to enter text.
Proposal for Visual Art pieces: (artwork due by May 1, 2016)
What onsite artwork do you propose?
Click here to enter text.
Will it be an appropriate size and material for our Art Display Boards: 36” x 24”? (If no, what is
the size of proposed artwork? Please remember we use staple guns for displaying artwork on
display boards.).
Click here to enter text.
If the artwork will not work on our Art Display Boards, do you have a way for it to be displayed?
(Another area on site may be possible.) Artwork that will not fit on display boards must be able
to stand alone safely or onsite assistance for display be arranged in advance
Click here to enter text.
It is waterproof?
Click here to enter text.
What age range are the students creating the work?
Click here to enter text.
Would you like the artwork returned to you? (Please remember this may not be possible.)
Click here to enter text.
Proposal for Performing Art pieces
How long is your performance? (as short as 10 – 15 minutes and no longer than 35 – 40
minutes is best) and how many times are you interested in performing?
Click here to enter text.
Please describe the performance: music, theatre, dance, singing, etc including equipment &
number of instruments. What age range would find it most interesting: preschool, primary,
intermediate? Sound reinforcement can only be provided on the Community Spirit Stage. All elements
necessary for the performance should be easily transported by the students and helpers. It is important to
list all items you may need storage for as it is limited and we need to ensure that it can accommodated.
(Feel free to continue your description at the end of this document if necessary.)
Click here to enter text.
Do you have an excerpt of the performance Festival staff can watch, (You Tube, vimeo, or other?)
Click here to enter text.
Are you interested in performing on our Community Spirit Stage or on one of our staging areas?
Click here to enter text.
If you are requesting our Community Spirit Stage because of technical requirements, please list
them.
Click here to enter text.
If you prefer our Community Spirit Stage, but due to Festival scheduling it is not possible, would
you consider one of our staging areas?
Click here to enter text.
GROUP RECOGNITION
In order to credit your group, your artwork &/or your performances please let us know how you
would like to be listed:



Name of Artwork: Click here to enter text.
Performance: Click here to enter text.
Name of Performing Group: Click here to enter text.
Thank you for your application to the Surrey International Children’s Festival Community
Participation initiative. We value your commitment and contribution to the community and your
desire to get involved.
We are looking forward to another great year in 2016.
Sincerely,
Festival Staff
2016 Surrey International Children’s Festival