Festival Rolls out the Red Carpet

The talents of Rotherham's children and young people will be centre stage as the borough plays host to a very special festival.

Everything from Shakespeare to Rotherham's own version of the Oscars ceremony will be taking place at the Magna Science and Adventure Centre when the Children and Young People's Festival gets underway next week at the world-renowned visitor attraction.

The Festival, which runs from June 21 to July 9, is the first of its kind in the borough and brings together, under one spectacular roof, a whole range of events.

Included in the Festival programme are:

- A three-day Shakespeare Festival

- Rotherham's very own version of the Oscars, The Roscars, where the awards are presented to school children who've created their own short films

- Summer Proms

- The Rotherham Children's Book Awards

- Music at Big Band, Big Sing, Big Bash and Big String events

- A Rotherham Ambassadors event

- A special event for Rotherham's Looked After Children

Councillor Paul Lakin, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People's Services, said: "The Festival is going to be a spectacular way for Rotherham to really show the exciting and innovative things that children and young people in the borough are doing.

"We have a magnificent venue, great support from a range of different organisations and the enthusiasm and creativity of the young people themselves and the wide range of people who work with them. It's a great combination which will make this a really great event."

The Festival is being supported by the Magna Centre, Inspire Rotherham, Rotherham United FC, Rotherham Titans, RBT, Magna, Ultimate Balloons, Sero, Espresso, Inspired Gardens, Transmitta Ltd, Spear & Jackson, Fronter UK & Ireland, Data Harvest, Education City, Teachers2Parents, Broadsword, Space, Connections, Wak Studios and Sigma IT Services Ltd.

Matthew Beck, Managing Director at Magna, said: "We are thrilled to be hosting the Children's Festival at Magna, this will be an amazing opportunity for schools in the local area and where better to hold it than at Magna.

Full details of the Festival programme are available at www.rgfl.org/ChildrensFestival