The Big Umbrella Festival will return in a spectacular manner to Lincoln Center, providing an inclusive and special experience for neurodiverse audiences. The festival, from April 4 to April 20, 2025, is intended to invite children, adolescents, and adults with autism, sensory sensitivities, communication disorders, and learning disabilities.
Big Umbrella Festival: A Celebration Of Inclusion In The Arts
For most neurodiverse people, conventional performing arts venues prove to be daunting or inaccessible. The Big Umbrella Festival seeks to transform this by providing an inclusive space where audiences feel comfortable to just enjoy and engage in artistic performances without restriction.
There are interactive and sensory-friendly events at the festival this year. Out-of-doors, installations like Los Trompos tempt people to join in play with enormous spinning tops, and The Sticky Dance for Sensory Groovers promotes innovative movement with colourful sticky tape.
Theatre performances such as When the World Turns, a joint work of Polyglot Theatre (Australia) and Oily Cart (U.K.), surround people with a world of light, sound, and shadow. Then there is the performance of Hamlet by Peru’s Teatro La Plaza using actors with Down syndrome in Spanish with English subtitles.
What To Do At The Festival
The festival offers a multitude of interesting things to do, which makes sure everybody has something enjoyable. Some highlights include:
- When the World Turns – An immersive theatre experience that allows audiences to discover a magic world (April 4–6 & April 11–13).
- Los Trompos – A street installation with big, colourful spinning tops in Damrosch Park (April 4–6, April 9–13, & April 16–20).
- Virtual Crip Movement Lab – An art workshop for disabled people and their friends (April 3–4).
- CMS Kids: Moving Music – An interactive workshop in chamber music through movement and call-and-response games (April 5).
- The Sticky Dance for Sensory Groovers – A fun dance performance discovering the texture of sticky tape (April 11–13).
- E.P.I.C. Players Showcase – A performance showcasing neurodiverse excellence in theatre, music, and dance (April 12).
- Hamlet by Teatro La Plaza – A bilingual, reimagined adaptation of Shakespeare’s timeless classic performed by actors with Down syndrome (April 19).
Lincoln Center’s education staff will also conduct both indoor and outdoor creative stations, where visitors can discover visual arts through hands-on experiences.
A Responsive And Welcoming Arts Experience
The Big Umbrella Festival is part of Lincoln Center’s ongoing commitment to making the arts accessible to all. To ensure a comfortable experience, all events follow the guidelines for relaxed performances, allowing attendees to move freely, make noise, and enter or exit as needed.
To further encourage inclusivity, the festival is free or on a ‘choose-what-you-pay’ model. Lincoln Center invites all to participate and experience a cultural event designed for neurodiverse audiences. For those willing to attend, tickets for certain events can be booked from Lincoln Center’s official website.
No matter if it is through interactive shows, immersive theatre, or sensory-friendly exhibits, the Big Umbrella Festival still celebrates the joy of the arts for everyone.
Where: Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023, USA
When: April 4 to April 20, 2025
Cost: Free of Cost/Choose What To Pay
Will you be visiting the Big Umbrella Festival this year? We’d love to hear your thoughts and tell us which event you’re looking forward to most!
Cover Image Courtesy: Lincoln Center/Website
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