SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Children are in for a treat this weekend with interactive fairy tales, clowns, songs, puppets and animation for three days of pure fun.

Clown Monsieur Nono is performing Saturday and Sunday for children during the Festival of Silliness. - photo courtesy of Summer Meyer

Hosted by Northern Arts and Cultural Centre, the Festival of Silliness kicks off today until Sunday, featuring actors, entertainers and musicians from across the country.

Families are invited to a dinner, workshops and plays, many of which are featured in both French and English.

"There will be lots of activities, a bouncy castle, pre-concerts and dinner," said Marie Coderre, executive director of NACC.

On Saturday, children get to take part in face painting, balloon making and play in a bouncy castle. Local musician Miranda Currie is following up with a puppet show and sing along beginning at 3:30 p.m. in the NACC lobby.

Entertainer Sylvain-Henri Simard is gracing the Northern stage, using music and dance to teach French. Simard is an artist and teacher who works primarily in French, but said he is looking forward to working with children in English.

He is going to use words in French to create beatboxing sounds.

"Beatboxing is universal," he said.

He will also play songs in French about the North, using his guitar and iPad to tell stories of polar bears and sled dogs.

For those big on fairy tales, children can live out their dream of playing Cinderella with help from Dufflebag Theatre. The Ontario improvisation theatre company is presenting Cinderella with a twist Friday and Saturday. Audience members are invited up on stage to play the main roles and must improvise the play with help from the theatre crew.

"We do our own version of stories so it's quite funny," said Marcus Lundgren, artistic director for Dufflebag Theatre.

The crew is also visiting Ecole St. Joseph and Range Lake North School to host a similar performance with the students. This time students will act out Robin Hood.

Beginning in 1992, Dufflebag Theatre has presented plays such as MacBeth, Peter Pan, A Christmas Carol, Beauty and the Beast and Romeo and Juliet in the same way.

Other great acts during the festival include bilingual clowns Clopin Lanouille and Monsieur Nono who will perform Saturday and Sunday. There is also be a presentation of the film, The Legend of Sarilla, which follows three Inuit youths who search for Sarilla, the promised land in hopes of saving their family from famine.

The festivities begin at 7:30 p.m. today and go all weekend.