What About the Kids!?

Special Note to Parents

We welcome children to Zimfest and have made a special place for them this year as well as a lower price. Anyone under 12 can join us for free, paying only for workshops. We’re hoping you can bring the whole family.

Several options for children are available throughout the festival. Please read below for details about children attending workshops, presentations, and concerts as well as childcare available during workshops and the evening concerts. If you choose to bring a child to a workshop or other event, please understand that it is your responsibility, out of respect for the teachers and other participants, to leave with that child if his or her needs are causing a distraction.

Child Care During the Festival

While much of the Country Fair area is off limits to us, we do have full use of their main children’s play area. Beneath a grove of trees, just behind the Dragon Plaza Marketplace, around the corner from the Stage, this area features swings, sandboxes, and more for your young’uns to enjoy. Volunteers may take your kids for adventure hikes through the woods, too. Maybe they’ll come across a Teddy Bear Picnic!

If you are interested in this option, please check the child care information on the registration. You will be asked to be part of the childcare team for the weekend. This is in addition to your 2 volunteer hours. Contact volunteers@zimfest.org with questions.

Children as Workshop Participants

We are happy this year to offer several workshops for young people to learn different types of Zimbabwean music as well as language, dance, games, and crafts. In order to make these workshops successful, we are asking that children aged 7 and under have an adult attend the workshop with them; both parent and child must register and pay for the class. Children over age 7 may attend the workshops by themselves. However, please consider the child’s attention span and comfort level with this situation. Children ages 8 and over are welcome to register for any Zimfest workshop provided they meet the prerequisites and playing level for the workshop. We hope this policy will encourage our children to join us in our love for this music.

Children Accompanying Adults to Workshops

We encourage parents to coordinate child care so that they are able to attend workshops without their children. If you prefer to have your child close by during a workshop, the child may not participate in the class and will be expected to sit quietly out of the way and not distract the other workshop participants. We would like to encourage you to take advantage of the child care options provided for young children. If your attention is needed, please provide it.