Golden Stick Festival
Background and creed
Initially organised by the Theatre for Children and Youth (GOML) at the Španski borci Culture Centre, in 2009 the festival was taken over by the Ljubljana Puppet Theatre, taking place in different locations in Ljubljana, besides the Ljubljana Puppet Theatre also Cankarjev dom, Mini Theatre, Dance Theatre Ljubljana and Slovene National Theatre Drama Ljubljana.
The festival aims to present the best Slovene production to foreign theatre professionals as well as to establish and develop quality exchange between the fields of culture and education. The festival is thus acting also as a platform for pedagogues who select contents for kindergartens and schools.
Participants and programme
The selection of Slovene theatre productions include performances by theatres such as Mini Theatre, Maribor Puppet Theatre, Ljubljana Puppet Theatre, Dance Theatre Ljubljana, Koper Theatre, Ptuj City Theatre, Teatro matita, Fru Fru Puppet Theatre, Prešeren Theatre Kranj, Slovene National Theatre Opera and Ballet Ljubljana, and ŠKUC Association.
Part of the festival's programme is included in Mapping. A map on the aesthetics of performing arts for early years, an international artistic research project focused on creating a sensory-based relationship with very young children, from 0 to 6 years, through performing arts.
Golden Stick platform
The festival is enriched with the Golden Stick (Zlata paličica) platform, organised in the frame of the Gleda(l)išče project, operated by the Slovenian Theatre Institute. It provides a comprehensive web-based environment that lists recommended, high-quality theatre performances for children and youth and recommended arts and cultural education content in the field of theatre. The platform is actively supported by partnerships between the educational institutions and creators.