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, will feature 71 events.
About 70 per cent of the events would be free and the rest would be low-cost, co-ordinator Jamie Dawson said.
“It’s about a sense of fun, a sense of play and something huge.”
The festival would have events for infants, toddlers and children aged up to 12 every day. Attractions would include 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” because the “access to high-grade cultural events for children up to age 12 is limited”.
One example was 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. Generally, such festivals don’t go for this length of time. It’s the most ambitious thing we’ve done,” Mr Dawson said.
The festival will expand on the council’s traditional September school holiday activity program – which often books out within a week for some activities.
The ‘flagship’ launch event – the Little Day Out on September 30 at Ross Reserve Noble Park – is expected to attract up to 3000 people.
The festival will end with a children’s expo on October 25. It will entertain children with free activities and showcase the council’s children’s 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.
Email any suggestions to news@cgd.com.au. Include the words ‘Children’s Festival’ in your email’s subject line.
