Does your child play an instrument? They could be the guest musician at our Big Family Gig with the wonderful Jiggy!

One of the major events in the festival will be The Big Family Gig, with a thrilling live performance for children and families by traditional music collective Jiggy, taking place on Saturday 4 April at 3.30pm in The Printworks, Dublin Castle.

We are looking for a child (or a duo) aged 10 to 12 to perform as a very special guest at this gig.

So, if your child loves to play an instrument and would like to apply to be special guest at the gig, here is what to do:

As Jiggy mixes Irish music with music from other countries in their shows, we’d love to see applications that show your child’s ability to play two folk or traditional tunes from any country in the world.

When will the project take place?
Applicants must be available for rehearsal and performance on Saturday 4^th April 2020.

How will the participant be selected?
The Ark will assess the applications in consultation with the band. We will choose one application as the final selection. The chosen applicant will be the person who best matches the needs of the project. While we wish that we could take everyone that applies, we can only select one applicant in the end.

If you would like to put your child forward for this opportunity, please consider whether:

• Your child has been playing their instrument for a minimum of 3 to 4 years and has a fluency of playing standard.
• Whether or not your child would be comfortable performing for a large crowd and that this is something they would enjoy.
• We are looking for applications from children who play any style of folk or traditional music of any kind from any part of the world.

Unfortunately this opportunity is not suitable for beginner or early stage young musicians.

Please note: In line with The Ark’s Diversity and Inclusion Policy, we actively seek to ensure equality in terms of access and engagement and strongly encourage applications across gender, ethnicity, age, orientation, membership of the Traveller Community, socio-economic status, family or civil status, disability, or religion.

How to Apply:

Go to the application form where you can upload a short (no more than 5-6 minutes) video of the child/children performing their two tunes. The team at The Ark will look through all videos received with the band and chose one young performer(s) to be the very special guest at this gig and perform their piece of music on the stage to the audience.

Applications close on Wednesday 18 March at midnight.

BIG BANG Dublin! is part of the BIG BANG network of adventurous international music festivals for young audiences which will see festivals taking place annually in 11 cities across Europe over the next 4 years, with the support of the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union. Dedicated to music for young audiences, these festivals aim to enrich and broaden the quality of music currently on offer to children in Europe. Each will present an exciting mix of high quality music performances within a programme of international and local musicians. You can find out more about the festival line-up here.

BIG BANG Dublin! is presented by The Ark in collaboration with Zonzo Compagnie with the support of the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.