Ideas for stage events and attractions that will liven up a school festival
At the school festival’s stage event, many of you are probably wondering what your class should perform.
The ideas are endless—bingo tournaments, rakugo storytelling, TikTok dances, a cappella, and more.
Let’s fill the venue with smiles through productions that showcase everyone’s individuality and surprise the audience.
Here, we introduce a variety of stage plans that everyone can enjoy from preparation to the big day, while captivating the crowd.
You’re sure to find the perfect act for your class!
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Theater, Performing Arts, and Expressive Arts (1–10)
Ghost story narration
Scary stories are strange things—although they give you the chills when you hear them, you can’t help but listen.
How about trying a ghost-story reading at an event like a school festival? Choosing stories with a school theme would probably make it even more exciting.
Calligraphy performance
Recently, manga featuring calligraphy have become popular, and calligraphy itself has quietly turned into a boom.
“Calligraphy performance” is a show where a large sheet of paper and a brush are set up at the venue, and characters are written there.
It’s a popular act in the arts category, where beautiful characters are drawn in time with music.
I think it’s a recommended act for members of calligraphy clubs or anyone with experience learning calligraphy.
Pantomime show
Pantomime is the art of expressing invisible things using only body movements.
As you improve, you can perform in ways that make it look like a bag is floating, or make viewers doubt their eyes, wondering if there’s really an invisible wall! If you have someone record a video and post it on social media, I think it will get a lot of attention!
shadow puppet play
Are you familiar with shadow puppetry? As the name suggests, it’s a form of theater that uses silhouettes, and there are several methods for performing it.
One approach uses an overhead projector to manipulate puppets.
Another involves shining a projector’s light from behind a screen and performing with hands, the whole body, or puppets.
The puppets themselves can be simple cutouts made from paper, or they can be articulated figures made with materials like wooden skewers or wire.
Since there’s a wide range of expressive possibilities depending on your ideas, try looking at different shadow puppet performances and think about what kind of show you’d like to create.
puppet show
Puppet shows—performances using puppets—are a recommended event for cultural and school festivals, which often have many young children.
You can stage a traditional Japanese folktale, or, if you have time to create one, try an original story.
Theater, Performing Arts, and Expression (11–20)
rakugo (traditional Japanese comic storytelling)
How about trying your hand at rakugo, one of Japan’s representative traditional performing arts? Rakugo is a storytelling art where a single performer plays multiple roles.
While the use of props and body movements is important, the emphasis is even more on verbal skill.
You could slot it in between more physical performances to lighten the mood.
If you want an authentic atmosphere, try preparing a kimono and a folding fan.
A yukata or even a cosplay outfit can surprisingly capture the vibe, too.
ensemble
If you want to experience the fun of creating something together, we recommend an ensemble.
You can achieve a beautiful performance even with instruments you use in regular music classes, like the melodica or recorder! Ask people who take piano lessons or can play the guitar to join in as well.
You might discover that someone unexpected can play an unexpected instrument, so doing some research is essential.
It could also be nice to film your preparation and practice, edit it like a documentary, and present it at the end.