Starting this Thursday, animators and animation-appreciators from around the globe will close in on Baton Rouge for a three-day festival highlighting the latest in animation and animation technologies.
The Red Stick International Animation Festival will be held April 21 to 23, all day long, in three different art venues throughout Baton Rouge — the Louisiana Art and Science Museum, the Old State Capitol and the Manship Theatre in the Shaw Center for the Arts.
 Jennifer Hughes, public relations manager for the festival, said it is the only one of its kind in the entire United States.
Hughes said the festival is hosted by the Laboratory for Creative Arts and Technologies at LSU and the Center for Computation and Technology, and it is more than just a way to see animated films and shorts.
“The point of the festival is to showcase a collaboration … to use animation to show the public about our research,” Hughes said.
Hughes said the LCAT and CCT use animation and 3-D rendering to recreate and visualize astrophysical and scientific events, such as supernovas. She said the festival is a way to introduce the technology used to do these renderings in a way everyone can appreciate.
Hughes also said the festival is a great way to bring together the scientific community at the University and the public of Baton Rouge.
Hughes said the festival will be packed full of events each day, including 44 screenings of animated works and an awards ceremony.
The festival will also feature full-length feature films produced by companies such as Pixar and Dreamworks and workshops headed by industry leaders.
Stacey Simmons, festival director, said there will be animation from countries around the world — including Korea, Taiwan, and several countries in Europe.
Simmons said the CCT is using the festival to challenge people to stay in the state to use their talents. She said they hope this will show people who want to enter into the animation field that they do not have to leave the state to make it.
Simmons also said the response so far has been huge. More than 900 people have registered online, which is required so the festival can plan for crowd control.
Viewing the screenings of all the animated works is free, but a pass must be purchased to attend the workshops and the awards ceremony.
The awards ceremony is included in the price of a gold pass — $65 for University students and $80 for non-students for all three days. A ticket to the awards ceremony alone is $20.