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theatre · Monday 6 July 2026 · See website for times 
The Little Mermaid Panto Camp - Age 7-10
At Watergate Theatre · Parliament Street, Kilkenny, Co. Kilkenny
At Watergate Theatre · Parliament Street, Kilkenny, Co. Kilkenny
A week of singing, dancing, and acting under the sea - this summer panto camp at Watergate Theatre gives children aged 7 to 10 a proper taste of what it feels like to perform on a real stage. Built around The Little Mermaid, the camp runs Monday to Friday (6 to 10 July 2026) and wraps up with a performance by the participants themselves. It suits kids who love being in front of an audience and equally those who have never tried theatre before - the whole point is to bring them on from nerves to confidence by Friday.
Each day at Watergate Theatre, children work through the building blocks of a panto production - learning songs, picking up choreography, and rehearsing scenes drawn from the Little Mermaid story. The week is structured so skills layer up gradually, with the end-of-week performance giving everyone a real reason to pull it together.
Watergate Theatre has been running summer panto camps for children along these lines for several years - previous years have seen themed weeks where children created their own twist on a classic story under the direction of experienced theatre makers. The format gives kids a taste of every part of the process: movement and staging, vocal work, and the particular buzz that comes from performing to a real audience.
The theatre seats 324 people, which means the final performance has genuine scale to it - it is not a classroom showcase but a proper stage, with all the lights and curtains that implies. For a child who has never been on a stage before, that is something they tend to remember.
Kilkenny city is well connected by road. From Dublin, take the M7/M9 motorway south - it is roughly 120 km and around 90 minutes. From Cork, the N25 and N72 bring you up through Waterford; allow around two hours. Bus Eireann runs regular coaches from Dublin (Busaras) to Kilkenny, and Irish Rail operates trains to Kilkenny MacDonagh Station from Dublin Heuston - the station is about a 10-minute walk from the theatre.
Watergate Theatre is on Parliament Street in the centre of the city. Paid parking is available nearby at the Kieran Street car park and at the Ormond Road multi-storey. On-street parking in the city centre operates on disc or pay-and-display during daytime hours.
The medieval city is easy to spend a full day in - Kilkenny Castle and the craft quarter on the Parade are both within walking distance of the theatre. There is more to see in Kilkenny and across Co. Kilkenny.
Heading to Watergate Theatre in Kilkenny? Kilkenny has plenty more to see. Read the Kilkenny area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.