Five must-see events at the Big Malarkey Festival

The Big Malarkey Festival is Hull’s biggest children’s literature festival, taking place this year on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 June on a colourful tented site in East Park.

The first festival took place last year as part of Hull UK City of Culture 2017. Almost 8,000 people visited the park to meet writers, illustrators, poets, performers and puppet-makers, and got involved with all kinds of fun.

We’re proud to sponsor this amazing celebration and have rounded up some of the best activities available for you to get stuck into this year.

Yoga Babies

Start the festival off with a lovely yoga session. There’s yoga for mum and dad, some for baby, and lots for you all to enjoy together.

Yoga helps you to deal positively with stress, encourages mindful relaxation in your role as a parent, and gently guides the body and mind back to their former glory – all while you enjoy a great bonding experience with baby.

Yoga Babies takes place from 10am to 10:45am on the Saturday in the Little Larkeys marquee.

Concerteenies

Join in with a unique music experience for children aged 0-3 and their grownups.

There’ll be live music set alongside sensory elements to keep the little ones entertained, including percussion, bubbles, and props.

Hull’s own Mambo Jambo is a truly unique two-piece, with their own joyful sound, a dozen or more instruments, and an endless variety of roots, world, folk and jazz styles up their sleeves.

See Concerteenies in the Oval Marquee from 10:30am to 11:15am on the Saturday.

Keep Off The Path!

It doesn’t matter how well you know a place, once you’ve experienced it with Rusticus – the theatre company that turns a walk into an adventure – you’ll never see it the same way again.

Join their feisty female time-travelling Professor on a journey through space and time, and find your whole family swept up in this joyful celebration of Hull characters and the stories that connect the past, present and future of East Park.

Keep Off The Path runs hourly on both days of the event, from 11:30am to 4:15pm. The walk begins and ends near the Picnic Spot.

Frankenstein

200 years ago, 19-year-old Mary Shelley published her ground-breaking novel Frankenstein, and modern science-fiction was born.

Join Hull’s sparkling spoken word collection Women of Words in a special festival commission to mark her astonishing achievement, reinterpreted for a young audience. Enjoy two events full of poems and stories, then have a go at writing or drawing yourself.

How to Build a Monster takes place from 12pm to 12:50pm, and Bad Science from 1pm to 2pm. Both events will be in the Kaleidoscope marquee.

Big Malarkey Insect Parade

Bug eyes, big wings and a flick of your feelers, and you’re ready to creep, crawl and scuttle along in the Big Malarkey parade. Hull Carnival Arts and Bandanarama lead everyone around the site and into the Big Top for the grand finale of the weekend.

For a full schedule of the events taking place, download the Big Malarkey programme.