Children are free to get as creative and muddy as they want underneath the Magic Fig Tree at the Wallaby Creek Festival. Photo: Supplied.
From a dedicated children’s festival to a rock band for kids, youngsters at this year’s Wallaby Creek Festival will have their entertainment dreams realised.
Heralded as “The Clash for kids”, Brisbane-based rock collective Blue Tac will take to the festival stage following a performance at the Cooktown Discovery Festival in June.
Blue Tac was born out of lead singer-songwriter Lachlan “Locky” Sykes’ dream of using music as a springboard for literacy development and connection with young people. He discovered this love for making music with the children of Lama Lama while based in Coen 10 years ago.
Bands coordinator Beck Payne said the act would feature a local twist with several community members set to fill in and young festival-goers invited to have their moment on stage.
“With usual bass player Ben Shaw unavailable, the capable hands of Cooktown State School music teach Sam Jeffries will again be taking the reins, and with the usual backing vocalists Katina and Harmonie unavailable, Cooktown locals, myself and Bell [Faber], will be stepping up,” she said.
“The main duty, other than singing and rocking out, is to support younger volunteers being invited up on stage to sing all the choruses, as well as dance during the verses.”
When they’re not busy rocking out to Blue Tac, children can engage in interactive activities under the Magic Fig Tree space, including potion making, cooking in the mud kitchen, putting on a puppet show, and much more.
“The children’s festival provides a beautiful opportunity for parents and guardians to spend quality time with their children, by helping them to navigate their own adventure, to encourage participation in activities and workshops of interest to them, and to assist with building on their musical, artistic, creative, cultural, and social skills and knowledge,” children’s festival coordinator Rachel Cunado said.
“[It is] a place to have fun and games, through genuine connections and creative expressions with both the land we share and with each other.
“Our vision is to invigorate, rejuvenate and nurture our children’s little bodies and their big minds and souls.”
The Wallaby Creek Festival will be held this weekend from 26-28 September. More information here.
Blue Tac will put an educational twist on rock music with its performance and workshop for Wallaby Creek Festival kids. Photo: Supplied.
