About:
WeeFestival’s mission is to uphold and promote the cultural rights of very young children through accessible, inclusive, and high-quality theatre and performing arts.
We are dedicated to presenting inspiring theatre and performance created especially for early childhood and families. Through our annual festival, we curate a dynamic, culturally diverse mix of productions from leading artists and companies from around the world, across the country, and around the corner. Beyond our flagship festival, WeeFestival’s outreach programming in schools and communities increases access to quality arts experiences for families across Ontario.
We are also deeply invested in the growth of our sector. Through seed projects, commissions, residencies, and professional development workshops, we proudly contribute to the advancement of theater for young audiences with a growing, dynamic body of work created by Canadian artists. Since our first edition in 2014, WeeFestival has presented over 65 productions—including 12 digital offerings—and has commissioned vital new works such as Old Man and the River (2014), Tweet Tweet (2018), Yassama and the Beaded Calabash (2022), and Avoou (2026).
We are driven by the conviction that regular exposure to the arts during early childhood has a profound, positive impact on a child’s long-term well-being while strengthening their bonds with peers and caregivers. By fostering this connection, our work helps build healthy, compassionate communities. We believe that nurturing a lifelong love of creativity in children ensures the future sustainability of the performing arts sector. Furthermore, when parents and caregivers witness this impact firsthand, they become powerful advocates for arts programming in our schools.
Because celebrating and promoting creativity in early childhood requires a village, we deeply value the essential collaboration of the artists, educators, and dedicated adults who make children’s participation in arts and culture possible.
History
WeeFestival was founded by Lynda Hill during her tenure as Artistic Director of Theatre Direct Canada (2001–2019). The festival grew out of her dedicated research into Early Years theatre, which began in 2011 and included extensive creative residencies in kindergartens and daycares. This work led to two original productions tailored for children under six and children with developmental disabilities, alongside a specialized early years drama curriculum.
Originally a biennial event, the WeeFestival launched its inaugural edition in 2014. Following three successful iterations, it transitioned into an annual, independent organization under Hill’s leadership in 2019. During the pandemic, the festival adapted by pivoting to digital programming in 2020 and 2021. This included the “A Play a Day” initiative, which brought high-quality filmed productions and multidisciplinary arts programming to thousands of Kindergarten to Grade 2 students across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA). In 2022, WeeFestival successfully returned to the stage with a hybrid model of in-person and digital programming.
Reports
Benefits of Arts in Early Childhood
- High quality arts or cultural experiences in early childhood can help children develop subsequent abilities in the arts which will be useful right through life.
- Early years arts and cultural activities can help children make sense of their cognitive, physical, emotional, spiritual, linguistic, and moral development by enhancing the whole curriculum.
- Early childhood arts and cultural activities can significantly strengthen and enrich children’s social bonds with their peers and parent-child bonds. These experiences further engage families and educators in their children’s learning, providing a positive focus for shared experience and communication.
- Stimulating and compelling experiences at museums, galleries, theatres, libraries, dance, arts or music venues will offer many parents the ideas, confidence and resources to play with their children as a natural part of everyday life.
- Early years arts and cultural activities can help develop intrinsic human qualities, such as creativity, expression, identity, culture and imagination. As well as helping to preserve our cultural heritage, they enable young children to develop their own languages which help shape their individual, community and global identity.
- Early years arts experiences can impact positively on confidence, self-esteem, personal, social, emotional development and behavioural health, breaking down language barriers, cultural prejudices or societal differences, and leading to decreased social problems, reduced inequality and increased creativity.
- Collaborations that encompass the perspective of arts or cultural professionals, early years professionals, children and parents can bring a vibrancy to learning that results in a much deeper understanding of, and attention to, a child’s needs and interests. This leads to sustainable progression, raising standards of achievement, and a sense of fulfillment for both teachers and children both immediately and later on in life.
About Theatre for Early Years
WeeFestival presents Theatre for Early Years for audiences 0 – 5/6 years. TEY often employs one or more of a wide range of disciplines including puppetry, object theatre, physical theatre, dance, installation performance, music theatre, and storytelling. TEY shares more in common with performance art and post-dramatic dramaturgies than it does with traditional theatre or TYA.
TEY Works are typically aimed at narrow age ranges taking into account the developmental stages of young children-infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarten age presented in intimate venues for small audiences in Relaxed Performance formats. The Relaxed Performance format also ensures inclusion for children with Developmental Disabilities and/or Autism.