Blippi: Join the Band Tour
Courtesy of Round Room Live
The Blippi: Join the Band Tour, which is hitting almost 60 North American markets, launched a few weeks ago. Billboard Family has put together a complete guide for families hoping to see the show, which is a mix of live music and theatrical performance.
With parents surely curious to know more about the Blippi tour as it heads to their town, we met with Jonathan Linden and Stephen Shaw, founders of tour production company Round Room Live, to gather details about the live music and theatrical tour based on a popular children’s brand that started as a YouTube channel.
“Sometimes it’s the kids that are explaining Blippi to their parents,” Linden says of the brand, which is relatively new in comparison to household names like Sesame Street, which Round Room Live also has on its touring roster.
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Coming from a background in concert touring, and looking at the landscape from the eyes of parents, Linden and Shaw saw an opportunity to create a better, and more interactive, experience for families seeking live entertainment. Eight years ago, they launched Round Room Live, the producer and promoter that now puts on several live theatrical tours, including Blippi: Join the Band and Sesame Street Live! Say Hello.
“There wasn’t much for the parents,” Linden tells Billboard Family of the live children’s entertainment options he saw on the market at Round Room’s beginning. “There wasn’t always that much of a wider appeal. And so we felt like we could create something that was going to be interesting and dynamic, take some of our concert touring experience into it.”
“It wasn’t high energy,” says Shaw. “The music wasn’t quite there. The production values weren’t quite there. And so we took a long look at the industry and the sector of live entertainment of kids and family, and really put our attention into the producing of the shows: great script writers, great choreographers, great costume designers and fabricators, a great soundtrack and music, and high production value that would keep kids engaged and entertained. As you know very well, it’s difficult [for kids] to sit through 90 minutes of a production, and so, if we could keep them engaged, the parents would also be engaged and happier, and everyone would sort of leave the theater thinking that was a great, great event.”
One of their key initiatives, he adds, was “having music be the driver of the production.”
That’s exactly what they’re doing with the Blippi: Join the Band Tour, with its music being “the forefront of the show,” says Shaw. “We’ve got a live band on stage that includes guitar, bass, drums, keyboards. We’ve sort of moved it into, ‘Hey, this is a concert experience for young kids.'”
Read through our Family Guide for tips about attending the Blippi: Join the Band Tour. Plus, get a first look at live footage from the tour below:
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Watch an Exclusive Blippi: Join the Band Tour Preview
The Blippi: Join the Band Tour is on the road now. Round Room Live filmed a sneak peek of the live show and captured some special moments from the audience, seen in the video above, for Billboard Family.
In the clip, Blippi and friends perform tunes like “The Excavator Song,” “Blippi Wiggle” and “Tick Tock Rock,” all in front of a live band. These are songs your young Blippi fan will likely know from YouTube, and bright and catchy enough to get kids dancing in their seats even if they’re unfamiliar with the tunes. (Don’t be surprised to hear them — or yourself — singing “Stop and giggle/ Do the Blippi Wiggle! From the side to the middle/ Do the Blippi Wiggle!” on the way home.)
Notice the high energy of the performers, the vivid color palette of their costumes and the colorful stage visuals, designed to bring the story from YouTube to real life and hold young ones’ attention for the run of the show. Meanwhile, the singers and dancers are backed by live musicians, a fun introduction to a live music experience for your future concertgoer.
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See the Upcoming Blippi: Join the Band Tour Dates
The Blippi: Join the Band Tour launched in late September and has already visited a number of cities, but still has many, many performances to come.
“We’re in and out of cities every day,” says Shaw, who explains the busy travel schedule is something they consider when casting talent for the show. “We’re looking for high energy, engaged actors and actresses who are excited about the opportunity, not only to play a great role in a great show, but also have the opportunity to travel.”
See a list of the remaining tour dates for 2024 below, and find up-to-date information about all the dates still to come in 2025 on the tour’s official website:
Friday, Oct. 18 – Meridian Centre – St. Catharines, ON
Saturday, Oct. 19 – Tribute Communities Centre – Oshawa, ON
Sunday, Oct. 20 – Living Arts Centre – Mississauga, ON
Wednesday, Oct. 23 – Peterborough Memorial Centre – Peterborough, ON
Saturday, Oct. 26 – Thunder Bay Community Auditorium – Thunder Bay, ON
Sunday, Oct. 27 – Burton Cummings Theatre for the Performing Arts – Winnipeg, MB
Tuesday, Oct. 29 – Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium – Brandon, MS
Wednesday, Oct. 30 – Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium – Brandon, MS
Friday, Nov. 1 – Conexus Arts Centre – Regina, SK
Saturday, Nov. 2 – TCU Place – Saskatoon, SK
Sunday, Nov. 3 – Enmax Centre – Lethbridge, AB
Friday, Nov. 8 – Abbotsford Centre – Abbotsford, BC
Saturday, Nov. 9 – Okanagan Events Centre – Penticton, BC
Sunday, Nov. 10 – Queen Elizabeth Theatre – Vancouver, BC
Tuesday, Nov. 12 – Jack Singer Concert Hall – Calgary, AB
Friday, Nov. 15 – Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium – Edmonton, AB
Sunday, Nov. 17 – Co-op Place – Medicine Hat, AB
Tuesday, Nov. 19 – MetraPark Arena – Billings, MT
Wednesday, Nov. 20 – Bismarck Event Center – Bismarck, ND
Thursday, Nov. 21 – Scheels Arena – Fargo, ND
Friday, Nov. 22 – Xtreme Arena – Coralville, IA
Saturday, Nov. 23 – Taft Theatre – Cincinnati, OH
Sunday, Nov. 24 – The Family Arena – St. Charles, MO
Friday, Nov. 29 – The Riverside Theater – Milwaukee, WI
Saturday, Nov. 30 – Fisher Theatre – Detroit, MI
Sunday, Dec. 1 – Temple Theatre – Saginaw, MI
Tuesday, Dec. 3 – Old National Events Plaza – Evansville, IN
Wednesday, Dec. 4 – Appalachian Wireless Arena – Pikeville, KY
Friday, Dec. 6 – Old National Centre – Indianapolis, IN
Saturday, Dec. 7 – Mershon Auditorium – Columbus, OH
Sunday, Dec. 8– Louisville Palace – Louisville, KY
Tuesday, Dec. 10 – Walton Arts Center – Fayetteville, AR
Thursday, Dec. 12 – Cable Dahmer Arena – Independence, MO
Friday, Dec. 13 – Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts – Springfield, MO
Saturday, Dec. 14 – Texas Hall – Arlington, TX
Sunday, Dec. 15 – Bayou Music Center – Houston, TX -
How to Buy Tickets for the Blippi: Join the Band Tour
Courtesy of Round Room Live “We’ve seen an incredible bump of interest and corresponding ticket sales that have led us to, you know, firm our notion of live music being such a great driver for such a dynamic and fun experience,” Shaw tells Billboard Family of Round Room Live’s early observations surrounding the Blippi: Join the Band Tour.
Tickets for the Blippi: Join the Band Tour are available on Ticketmaster for many markets, with price per ticket ranging from $25-$65 USD (that’s $46-$89 CAD, for the shows in Canada). You can also refer to the tour’s website here for the link to buy tickets, as select venues sell tickets directly via their websites.
For Blippi superfans, you might consider purchasing tickets for the tour’s Photo Experience, a post-show opportunity to meet and take a photo with the performer Blippi. Keep in mind some kids love this kind of meet and greet with characters, but some get very shy or scared — and their reaction in the moment might surprise you. The Photo Experience is an extra fee, as it’s treated as a ticketed event that’s separate from the show itself; each adult and child must have their own Photo Experience ticket. Review ticketing details for this add-on the Blippi tour website.
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How to Make the Most of Your Blippi: Join the Band Tour Experience
Blippi: Join the Band Tour Courtesy of Round Room Live Linden and Shaw want the Blippi: Join the Band Tour to be a fun event for your whole family, not just your kids. “We know that everybody’s figuring out logistics of kids and naps and snacks,” while also attempting “to take it all in,” Linden says. But he encourages parents to really “try to enjoy it with the kids.”
“There’s a lot of music,” he says, referring to the performers singing and the live band playing like it’s a concert experience. “We got to keep it rolling and flowing.”
With kids, and especially with kids of different ages, getting out of the house and to a live production on schedule can be a production all in itself — something Linden and Shaw see firsthand at Round Room Live’s shows.
“It’s a production to get your kids to go to a lot of things, particularly as they’re younger,” Linden says, “and then as producers and promoters of live entertainment and touring entertainment for kids, we know it’s a production, because, you know, every time we go to a show you can see sort of the amount of strollers and the amount of people that are coming in with multiple kids.”
To help families not miss a beat, he says, “We usually hold the start time a little bit. You can sort of you can see the people coming in, and everybody’s everybody’s doing their best.”
“You know, sometimes one of the fun things is not only when [parents are] taking pictures of the stage,” he reminds parents. “But it’s the parents taking pictures the other way, of their kids dancing in the aisles and their kids having fun.”
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Tips for Parents Bringing Neurodivergent Kids to a Live Show
The crowds and noise at live events can be overstimulating for any child, but especially for neurodivergent children, even if it’s a stage show featuring their favorite characters and songs. How can a parent make going to the full-of-music Blippi: Join the Band Tour as comfortable and enjoyable as possible for a child on the autism spectrum? As a parent with a special interest in exploring this topic, I asked Linden and Shaw if they had any advice they’d give families, from the perspective of someone with a career in producing children’s live entertainment.
“We’ve been very successful at being able to provide a safe and happy experience for all of our audience members,” Shaw promises of the tour.
One tip that came to mind, he says, is that he’s seen parents call the theater in advance to discuss their child’s specific needs. Shaw notes that sometimes “there is the opportunity to possibly reshuffle seats or move them to an area that they may feel more comfortable. I know it’s a sort of a case-by-case situation.”
“I think that’s right,” Linden adds, agreeing that the theaters they work with are accommodating to guests and want to welcome all families to the show. “And I think it’s amazing with the shows that are more driven, like Blippi, by the music — you can see all the different kids sort of enjoying it in a different way, and enjoying it in their own way, and in their own space.”