Arts For All presents Kinderfest at Telling Tales
featuring Carousel Players with“The Drama Garden”
Saturday, October 4 & Sunday, October 5 - 11:30am, 1:45pm, and 3:00pm
Royal Botanical Gardens, Hendrie Park
Welcome back to Kinderfest 2026!
The Drama Garden is a multi-sensory theatrical experience for young minds located at the Royal Botanical Gardens as part of the Telling Tales 2025 festival.
Scheduled to be performed 3 times each day (Saturday-Sunday) at 11:30am, 1:45pm, and 3:00pm, each Drama Garden promenade is approximately 30 minutes in length and offers a series of vignettes including:
DRAGON ON THE HILL
Audiences animate and dance with a large Dragon puppet, to sing a lullaby for the Dragon, and to then imagine what might happen next in the story.
THE CARDINAL
The audience helps a comedic human sized bird to rebuild their broken nest.
THE FLOWER GARDEN
An interactive musical performance where audience members helped to make music to encourage flowers to grow.
JUNK XYLOPHONE
An interactive giant xylophone made of junk! A self-guided musical play for all ages.
Arts For All and Telling Tales have carefully selected the path and spaces for Drama Garden to create an accessible experience.
Together In Arts
Telling Tales
Telling Tales is a registered charity that presents a year-long reading campaign dedicated to promoting literacy and inspiring a love of reading. The annual program culminates in a free, two-day festival that showcases interactive presentations from over fifty of Canada’s finest children’s authors, illustrators, storytellers and performers.
Carousel Players
Carousel Players is one of Canada’s oldest and most respected professional theatre for young audience companies. Founded in 1972, Carousel has performed more than 220 productions to over 2.8 million children, youth and families predominantly.
Carousel Players is committed to the development of new work and the production of theatre that entertains and challenges young audiences.
Today’s Family Early Learning and Child Care
Today’s Family is committed to all those who gather, play, and work within Today’s Family. Together, we work to achieve what’s best for children and families. This is our commitment to you, each other, and to the future.
We believe in the importance of places to learn and play for all who gather at Today’s Family. A place where no child, family, or member of our community experiences inequity.
incite Foundation for the Arts
Founded in 2011, the incite Foundation for the Arts is a non profit organization dedicated to revolutionizing support for the arts in the Hamilton Community. incite Foundation for the Arts strives to enrich the lives of Hamiltonians and visitors by championing visual and performing arts charitable institutions in the area.
Tickets & Info
Date: Saturday October 4 & Sunday, October 5 at Telling Tales
Times: 11:30 AM, 1:45 PM, and 3:00 PM
Style: Open Air Theatre
Age: 1 – 6 years
Duration: 30 minutes plus welcome and post-show
Location: Royal Botanical Gardens, Hendrie Park
Venue Information: This open air performance is in partnership with Telling Tales, Carousel Players, and Today’s Family. There is an accessible pathway leading through the performance experience.
Registration for Telling Tales includes access to the festival as well as performances of “The Drama Garden.”
Check back on this page for upcoming Kinderfest programming!
