Kids Fest
Friday's pre-festival experienceCreated just for students, we kick off festival weekend with hand-picked entertainers sure to make the room rumble!
Kids Fest
Entertain * Engage * Educate
Engaging with art is essential to the human experience. Arts educational experiences have remarkable impacts on students’ academic, social, and emotional outcomes.
Kids Fest is one of our very favorite tradition of the Juan de Fuca Festival! Each year JFFA launches the Festival with three morning school performances that serve over 3000 local students and educators. With support from the Port Angeles Education Foundation, the Port Angeles School District, many volunteers and specific artist grants we proudly bring world class performances to all K-12 students in the Port Angeles School District.
2026 Kids Fest Performers
Bang Bang Experience
Bang Bang Experience is a 7-piece brass band from Portland, OR playing the music of trumpet player, Sam Dechenne. Inspired by the sounds of international brass bands and Jazz ensembles, Funk, Pop and Reggae horn sections, West African and Latin American drumming, they bring an exciting and interactive experience to every stage.
The rhythm section interweaves grooves and swaps roles throughout the performance for a visual and audible experience. Drum set, Cajon, Timbales, Congas, Surdo and a variety of mixed percussion make up the intricate drum beats you’ll hear at a concert. The lower brass section takes on the bass role, rhythmic comping, inner harmonies and supporting melodies. Riding the musical wave on top is trumpet, playing the main melody and voice of the band.
With Bang Bang, you’ll hear melodic and fiery solos from every member of the band, soft and intimate 3-part horn section compositions, exciting rhythm breaks and catchy melodies and horn riffs that will keep your ears open and your feet moving.
Okaidja Afroso Duo
Okaidja Afroso was born into a family of musicians and storytellers in the town of Kokrobite on the west coast of Ghana. He began his career as a dancer with the celebrated Ghana Dance Ensemble.
Often performed in his native language, Afroso’s genre-defying songs convey a whole spectrum of experiences—joy, harmony, tragedy, and hope—that embrace what he calls “the rich complexity of the integrated world we inhabit.” Through his distinctive style that combines various percussion instruments, vocals, guitar, and dance, Afroso explores the perseverance of ancestral traditions and creates a new, contemporary African oral tradition.
“My music preserves my West African roots while embracing diverse cross-cultural influences and styles. I strive to create a rhythmic fusion of old and new that presents a fresh sound that preserves the authenticity of the traditional while embracing the rich complexity of the integrated world we inhabit today.” – Okaidja Afroso
Notable Past Performers
Renegade Orchestra
Curley Taylor & Zydeco Trouble
Luca Stricagnoli
Ballet Victoria
Maiah Wynne
Henrik Bothe
Thank you to our Partners
Kids Fest FAQ's
Who is paying for this field Trip?
JFFA believes that every child deserves to experience the performing arts so we’re donating our time, talent and dollars to make this event possible. This event is also generously supported by Steve Methner State Farm, The Port Angeles Education Foundation, our Members and other caring community organizations.
How can I support this event?
If you’d like to donate to support this event and help us cover the cost of bussing, artists, and our tech team please follow this link: Kids Fest Donations
Can I join my student on this field trip?
All chaperones are arranged through your student’s school. If you would like to chaperone and have current volunteer paperwork completed with the school district, you can reach out to your student’s teacher for more information.
I'd like my family to attend? Is that an option?
This exclusive event is just for our our students, educators, and chaperones. If you would like to see these performers with your family, you can purchase tickets here: Juan de Fuca Festival Tickets. Youth 18 & Under are FREE. You can check the schedule to see when these and the rest of our 50+ performers will take the stage.
What time is the performance? What about the bus?
Permission slips will have the bus schedule for each classroom. Each field trip takes approximately two hours. Students will be back before the end of the school day.
How do I sign my student up for this?
Permission slips are sent home 4-6 weeks before Kids Fest. Please fill the form out and return it to your child’s teacher as soon as possible.
Students MUST have a signed and completed permission slip to attend.