Animals bring magic to kids’ festival

A two-week celebration for the young and young at heart is kicking off in Greater Dandenong.
This year’s Greater Dandenong Children’s Festival has an animal kingdom theme and features free and low-cost events throughout the school holidays from 23 September to 8 October.
The event is now in its sixth year and will include daily movie screenings in Harmony Square in Dandenong, craft workshops, storytelling and puppet making.
The headline event, Little Day Out – For Big Imaginations, will be held at Ross Reserve on Sunday 1 October from 11am to 4pm.
Visitors will be able to ride a camel, visit an animal farm and try their hand at circus play.
Greater Dandenong Mayor Jim Memeti said the festival appealed to children of all ages and encouraged them to explore their creative side.
He said more than 17,000 people were expected to attend the festival during the two weeks.
“This festival has quickly become a regular feature on people’s school holiday calendar and offers affordable, fun and imaginative ways to keep the children busy,” he said.
This year’s festival will also feature the inaugural Shorter Cuts Film Festival.
Local school students created some of the films, which will screen in Harmony Square at noon on Wednesday 27 September.
During this year’s festival the Dandenong Civic Centre will also feature a large inflatable with five festival mascots.
Mona Beeza the bee is the creative one in the group and loves drawing, while Birdtoven the bird is an actor who loves to entertain.
Bob the Reader is quite an intellectual pooch and enjoys learning about new people, places and things.
Healthy Shelby is the healthiest koala going around and Puss ‘n’ Hoops is a cat with lots of energy.
Visit www.greaterdandenong.com/childrensfestival for a full list of Greater Dandenong Children’s Festival events.