Animagination Weekend - A Festival of Illustration, Animation and Books is taking place at the Riverbank Arts Centre from April 17th to 19th!

The weekend will offer visitors a chance to see how animated films go from concept, to script, to screen.

Guests will get the opportunity to talk to the people behind the cartoons: from the authors who create the characters; the illustrators who draw them; to the voices who give them life. 

The festival kicks off on Friday 17th April with a screening of Ernest and Celestine at 10am!

You can find more info on this screening here: http://riverbank.ie/shows/ernest-celestine

There will be a whole host of workshops on Saturday 18th, kicking off with Cartoon Saloon's Animation and Cartoon Workshop with Animation Supervisor Fabian Erlinghauser at 11am, which will give participants an introduction to designing characters as well as a brief introduction to storyboards, composition and animation techniques!

You can find more info on this workshop here: http://riverbank.ie/workshops/animation-cartoon-workshop

This is followed by a Talk and Q&A with Cartoon Saloon's Fabian Erlinghauser at 2pm giving a behind-the-scenes look at the production of some of Cartoon Saloon's best loved work, from the Oscar-nominated film The Secret Of Kells to Anam an Amhráin, an eclectic selection of Irish language songs. Followed by a screening of their Oscar Nominated feature “The Secret of Kells”.

You can find more info on this Talk and Q&A here: http://riverbank.ie/workshops/behind-the-scenes-with-cartoon-saloon

On Sunday 19th from 11am there'll be a drop in Workshop - Story Doodles with our very own Emmy-Award Winning Storyboard Supervisor Marten Jonmark!

Marten will host a workshop on creating and drawing your own stories. The storyboards that are created from this workshop will be displayed in the Children's Gallery for the day!

You can find more info on this workshop here: http://www.riverbank.ie/workshops/story-doodles-with-marten-jonmark

There will also be a drop in Book Clinic hosted by our friends Children’s Books Ireland! Visit the Book or Doodle Doctor, consult on your favourite reads and then collect your prescription.

There will be a Shorty Shorts Screening from 11am – 1.45pm where guests can pull up a beanbag and catch one of the short animations being shown in the Children's Gallery.

And to cap off the festival there'll be a screening at 2pm of James & The Giant Peach!

You can find more info on this screening here: http://riverbank.ie/shows/james-and-the-giant-peach

The Riverbank Arts Theatre is located on Main Street, Newbridge, Co. Kildare. Find out more from their website, Facebook, or Twitter!