By CAMERON LUCADOU-WELLS
GREATER Dandenong Council has announced what it hopes to be an annual four-week children’s festival starting next month.
The Greater Dandenong Children’s Festival, believed to be unprecedented in its scale in Australia, features 71 events.
NAME THE MASCOTS
Greater Dandenong Council is seeking names for the festival’s five mascots: a singing bird, a reading dog, a culinary-loving koala, a sporty cat and an artsy bee.
Any suggestions to news@cgd.com.au. Please include the words ‘Childrens Festival’ in your email’s subject line.
About 70 per cent of the events are free and the rest are ‘‘low-cost’’, says co-ordinator Jamie Dawson.
‘‘It’s about a sense of fun, a sense of play and something huge,’’ he says.
The festival will have events for about children 0-12 on every day, including an inflatable planetarium, circus workshops with the National Institute of Circus Arts, mixed-abilities drama workshops with Barking Spider Visual Theatre, puppetry performances of The Jungle Book and night tours in Alex Wilkie Reserve.
Mr Dawson said the region needed a ‘‘flagship festival for families’’, where ‘‘access to high-grade cultural events for 0-12 year olds is limited.’’
One example is giving children the chance to experience science activities without having to travel to ScienceWorks in the western suburbs.
‘‘This is the first time we’ve done anything like this. Gernerally such festivals don’t go for this length of time. It’s the most ambitious thing we’ve done,’’ Mr Dawson said.
It will expand on the council’s traditional September school holiday activity program — which often books out within a week for some activities.
‘‘We know there’s a thirst for these activities [in the school holidays],’’ Mr Dawson said.
The ‘‘flagship’’ launch event is the Little Day Out on September 30 at Ross Reserve Noble Park, which is expected to attract up to 3000.
It will host dancing, Polynesian and African live music and a 30-metre slide. On the same day, the neighbouring Noble Park Community Centre will launch its community garden and Noble Park Aquatic Centre will have an enchanted forest, ‘baby bounce’ music and family yoga.
The festival ends with a Children’s Expo on October 25. It will entertain children with free activities and showcase the council’s childrens services, libraries and playgroups.
The program is set to be released online in the next two weeks.
CAN YOU HELP?
Greater Dandenong Council is seeking names for the festival’s five mascots: a singing bird, a reading dog, a culinary-loving koala, a sporty cat and an artsy bee.
Any suggestions to news@cgd.com.au. Please include the words ‘Childrens Festival’ in your email’s subject line.
