Ottawa, December 8, 2022 – The BIG BANG Festival is back this winter and full of colorful sound festivities at a joyful decibel. Featured are exciting concerts, surprise performances, sound machines and many more wild curiosities all over the building! Join us for a lively family day weekend with loved ones – your eardrums will thank you.

“In a perfect world, I would want every day to be a BIG BANG! Because to me, this festival full of adventures in sound is the best celebration. It brings us together in the most joyful way with all the colour, magic, and possibilities that music evokes. An explosion for all your senses, the BIG BANG is a visceral and jubilant experience. What more can you ask for?” says Mélanie Dumont, Festival Programmer and Director of Youth Programming, NAC French Theatre.

Since 2019, the annual BIG BANG has attracted thousands of young visitors and their families to the NAC for an incredible weekend of sound. This year’s edition is, yet again, part of the Winterlude festivities and will include an array of amazing on-site performances. Free bilingual activities and sound experiences of all kinds will also be offered in person. Stay tuned: more events will be announced on January 17!

THE ULTIMATE MUSIC ADVENTURE

Get ready and follow along for a musical journey that features mysterious music rooms, funky performances, and a film concert for all to enjoy! Book your tickets and plan an unforgettable weekend now: http://www.bigbangfestival.ca. Families will find accessible prices with performance tickets ranging from $5-$15. Save 25% when you buy tickets to 2 or more BIG BANG performances! *Tickets on sale as of December 8, 10 AM

 

Off we go!

 

Alice Factory

"Festive Cinematic Concert"

A musical tea party with Alice and her partners in rhyme! A dazzling performance based on the many film adaptations of Alice in Wonderland, experience the delightful music and visuals of this rendition featuring three inventive musicians and a young Alice at the mic.

February 18 & 19 | $15
55 minutes ● In English ● Age 5-12
This show is also offered in French under the title Alice Bricolé.

 

WolfGANG: The WolfPUP Sessions

"Kid-Friendly Chamber Concert"

Awooooo! The younger sibling of NACO’s popular WolfGANG Sessions, this kid-friendly chamber concert is filled with musical surprises. Families can experience the thrilling possibilities of “indie classical” music in this fun and immersive concert, performed by our stellar NAC Orchestra musicians.

February 18 & 19 | $15
35 minutes ● Bilingual ● Age 5–12

 

The PepTides

"Eclectic Fusion Band"

Funky and full of irresistible flair — The PepTides are coming to the Big Bang Festival for the first time ever and are bringing with them a wave of songs that are sure to make the whole family groove! The members of this Ottawa-based musical sensation combine their diverse backgrounds and talents to bring to life a music cocktail inspired by Bowie, Badu, Bach, B-52s and The Partridge Family.

February 19 | $15
45 minutes ● Bilingual ● Age 5+

 

Music Rooms

"À la Carte Micro-Concerts"

About 15 minutes long and performed in unique spaces, these micro-concerts make a truly great experience for young ones. Enjoy the casual atmosphere, as artists perform for small audience groups, tucked away in intimate and mysterious settings. This annual event is offered at an accessible and is a festival favorite.

February 18 & 19 | $15
20 minutes ● Multilingual ● Age 5+

 

PLAN YOUR VISIT

Psst! Don’t forget to check out our website. You can book your tickets now and stay tuned for more shows coming soon this January 17: http://www.bigbangfestival.ca

WHAT MAKES THE BIG BANG UNIQUE?

The BIG BANG loves to travel, and what’s more, it loves to take visitors of all ages on adventures.
It builds on the legacy of the OORSMEER festival, founded by Wouter Van Looy in 1995, to offer children an artistic and musical program designed specifically for them, and which they even help deliver by participating in certain interactive installations.

Over the past 10 years the festival has travelled to several European cities, from Tallinn to Lisbon, from Antwerp to Athens, from Seville to Dublin, from Lille to Enschede, via Ghent, Brussels, Rouen, Reykjavik and Copenhagen. In 2019, the event took a giant leap across the ocean to land in its first North American city: Ottawa! Since then, each edition has been a resounding success, bringing together thousands of curious people attracted by the many guest artists and a host of invigorating performances and micro- concerts. Don’t miss the festival’s return to the NAC this winter!

THANK YOU TO ALL OUR BIG BANG FRIENDS

The Ottawa presentation of the BIG BANG is the result of the NAC’s relationship with Belgium’s Zonzo Compagnie, which specializes in musical theatre for young audiences and is directed by
Wouter Van Looy. Over the past few years, the NAC has presented several Zonzo performances, including Listen to the Silence, set to the music of John Cage; Slumberland, an exploration of the world of dreams and the night; Mile(s)tones, a show about legendary jazzman Miles Davis; and HUSH: Henry’s Dream Machine, an off-the-wall concert-performance about Henry Purcell, the Shakespeare of English music!

The BIG BANG in Ottawa is presented in partnership with Winterlude and is supported by the European Union’s Creative Europe Programme, the NAC’S Arts Alive Learning Hub and the Sandra and Alain Bouchard Foundation. The BIG BANG is an initiative of Zonzo Compagnie.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL ARTS CENTRE

The National Arts Centre is Canada’s bilingual, multi-disciplinary home for the performing arts. The NAC presents, creates, produces, and co-produces performing arts programming in various streams — the NAC Orchestra, Dance, English Theatre, French Theatre, Indigenous Theatre, and Popular Music and Variety — and nurtures the next generation of artists and audiences from across Canada. The NAC is located in the National Capital Region on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabeg Nation.