Children in grades one through five can experience the visual and performing arts next week in a format designed specifically for their age group, and coordinators of the event say they expect a large turn-out.

SIUC will host the10th annual Arts Education Festival Oct. 3 and 4, involving several thousand Southern Illinois school children, Pansy Jones, a festival director, said.

We are expecting around 5,500 area school children this year about 300 classrooms. Every year we feel bad because we have about 1,000 schools on stand-by because we run out of space for all the children, Jones said.

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Each child is sent to three activities selected from a variety of arts that begin at 9:45 a.m. and end at 12:45 p.m. during the two-day event.

Some of the activities are SIUC museum tours, opera, music arena and theater which are performed in Shyrock Auditorium. The Suzuki strings and children’s choir will be performed in McCleod Theater. Most of the other activities will take place in the ballrooms or River rooms of the Student Center such as mask making, weaving and story telling, Jones said.

SIUC students, faculty and staff, as well as members of area communities, volunteer their time for the festival, Jones said.

Jones said about 125 artists are involved in the two-day event along with more than 50 community volunteers.

This is a worthwhile event for the kids. They all have a good time. Each year the schools around the area, from as far north as Salem and as far south as Cairo look forward to hearing from us to tell them when the festival is going to be and what activities we are planning, Jones said.

Logan School in Murphysboro has participated in the festival for several years, and students and faculity look forward to it since it is so well organized, Anna Fenton, a first grade teacher at Logan School, said.

The festival is so well organized. There are always thousands of children there but we never have any problems getting around to the events, Fenton said.

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Events the children are sent to are chosen by the festival directors, Jones said.

We have always gotten the events we wanted to go to, Fenton said. Last year first grade saw opera and experienced hands-on art. We have never had a bad experience – the kids seem to enjoy the story telling the best because they really involve the audience.

According to an SIUC news release, the Arts Education Festival is co-sponsored by the SIUC College of Liberal Arts, Office of the SIUC President and the Southern Illinois Cultural Alliance.