England's largest festival for children starts in Leicester today

England's largest festival for children gets underway in Leicester today.

Spark Festival will run from Monday 13 February until Sunday 19 February.

The festival which is celebrating its 20th year, puts Children at the forefront of theatre and arts.

It will run at venues across the city including theatres, schools, libraries, and community centres alongside a series of digital performances for audiences to enjoy at home.

Pictures from Spark Festival

Spark Festival was created in 2003 to focus on championing children's arts and creating opportunities to engage young audiences with the performing arts.

Work presented during this year's festival will place importance on activism, creativity, and expression, which will result in a program that uses the arts and creativity as a tool for discussions and understanding.

Christopher Gorry, Artistic Director at Spark Arts said:

"The Spark Festival has always been dedicated to amplifying children's creative voices and choices across Leicestershire. It, therefore, feels appropriate that in its twentieth year, the festival will not only be focused on entertaining young audiences, but also empowering them - whether that's by seeing their own lives represented on stage; expressing themselves creatively through one of the festival's workshops, or by bringing to the stage voices and stories that often go unheard."