Happy Day des Enfants

Last weekend I was lucky to attend a really exciting music festival for children in the very grand opera house in Lille, northern France. The festival, Happy Day des Enfants, was organised by the Belgian company Oorsmeer and it focused on bringing dynamic, interesting music performances and installations to a young audience.
All the events took place in the beautiful opera house and every space was utilised. In fact the first performances I saw were all in dressing rooms. One of these involved a pianist and guitarist who played in time with a model train set. As the train moved round in a circle it hit a piece of paper off the side of some lego buildings. The lego blocks were linked to contact mics so the train produced some controlled feedback which the musicians then responded to melodically and rhythmically. It was really interesting and unique.
There was an ongoing installation throughtout the day called Bambouphones. This huge bamboo instrument was a big hit with the audience, young and old, as it offered a range of squeaks and honks which changed throughout the day.
http://www.hansvankoolwijk.nl/index.html
There were several other really interesting events: a lovely, quiet performance on accordion by Anne Niepold, a rocking performance from the Balaxy Orchestra and a very interesting performance by a group who played some glass instruments created by Charlotte Van Wouwe:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KT2mwEHNEw
It was a really great day in a very beautiful setting!