The Vancouver International Children's Festival has announced its lineup of kids' entertainers for 2021. 

The Festival--which runs online from May 31 to June 13--will feature theatre, music, dance, and storytelling by artists from Canada, India, Australia, Scotland, France, and the U.S.

Highlights of the festival include The Cat Came Back 40th Anniversary Tour, featuring Canadian music icon Fred Penner; When the Colours Ran Away, an interactive digital-arts film commission by ThinkArts of India; and Ideas Bobert, in which creator Candice Roberts uses vintage silent-film styling, shadow puppetry, stop-motion animation projections, dance, and live music to create a wordless show.

Other performers taking part in this year's Children's Festival include the B.C. musical duo Bobs & LoLo, Métis storyteller David Bouchard, Scottish cellist-composer Greg Sinclair, DJ and violinist Michael Fraser, African-dance specialist Jacky Essombe, and Indigenous cellist-composer Cris Derksen.

Also of note is The Human Radio, an interactive, live-looping performance using vocal percussion, rhythmic rhymes, and an eclectic mix of instruments from around the globe; and Loud, a high-energy extravaganza highlighting street-dance forms such as dancehall, hip-hop, and breaking.

“We know parenting can be challenging on a good day," says festival artistic-director Katherine Carol in a press release, "and the pandemic has made life a lot more stressful. Because of this, the Festival is committed to supporting families with pay-what-you-can pricing. Now more than ever, there is an incredible need to experience the joy of the arts.

"The Children’s Festival is an opportunity for parents and their children to forget their worries for a moment," adds Carol, "and focus on what’s important in life: to dance, to be silly and to connect with each other.”

To see the complete festival schedule and purchase tickets go here.