Brisbane Festival by Day

Brisbane Festival by Day

Various

See below

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Annual Event - September

 

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More details:

Various - See Below

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Annual Event - September

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More details:

Over the past couple of days, we have explored some of the Brisbane Festival ‘day’ events around the Southbank Precinct.

 

A Force

This is an art installation at Flowstate (near the Tribune St entrance to South Bank) that explores the connectivity that we have to technology in our lives. The art pieces are made mostly from wool with a variety of different items incorporated into the work. A cubbyhouse gives that chance to interact with the artwork and immerse yourself in it. Workshops are held twice a week in which members of the public can make their own piece to incorporate into the artwork.

Cost:  Free

 

House of Mirrors

This was Skuzz and Planet Duplo’s first ‘mirror maze’ experience. We gave Skuzz the job of finding our way out – he got us lost, but in his defence, I do admit that there were a couple of times that I was looking for marks on the mirrors to determine which way to turn. The maze itself, whilst not challenging, was more spacious and well-crafted than other mazes Dodge and I have encountered in the past – this made for some fantastic reflections and illusions. Children will enjoy the maze, but as an adult, if you slow down and take your time through the maze, a lot of fun can be had when playing with the reflections.

Admission:  $10 (day) or $15 (night) per person

 

The Owl & The Pussycat – Show & Workshop

Walk onboard and get comfortable in the pea green boat as the Owl and the Pussycat sail across the ocean and meet the pig and the turkey. This version of The Owl and The Pussycat is designed for small audiences and is entertaining for both children and adults alike. It is ideally suited for kindy and lower primary school age children and has an underlying theme of diversity and prejudice (the owl and the pussycat being from two different species and played by female actors, the pig is a misjudged bikie that’s upset that everyone thinks he’s scary, the turkey is one chilled out, peace-loving celebrant etc)

We were lucky enough to also take part in a workshop with the Owl and the Pussycat – we weren’t too sure what the workshop would involve, but we ended up sitting in the stage area, making origami boats, owls, pussycats and other animals. By the end of the workshop, our pea green origami boat was more like an ark, featuring tigers, ducks and fish that had jumped aboard with the owl and the pussycat for an adventure on the high seas. Our origami skills have also improved. Just.

Admission:

Show:
$20 for Children aged 3+
$33 for adults
$85 per family of 4 (2 adults, 2 children)

Workshop:
Free (ticketed as number of participants is limited)

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SWELL Sculpture Festival 2018

SWELL Sculpture Festival 2018

Free
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Annual Event - September

Free

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Annual Event - September

Adventure Friday saw us descend on Currumbin Beach for the SWELL Sculpture Festival. This is an arts festival with a difference – over 30 statues line the beach between Currumbin Surf Club and Currumbin Alley (Currumbin Creek mouth for those not onthe know). The sculptures are placed either on the beach itself or along the footpath and beach access paths.

If you’re a lover of sculpture and art, the pieces included in the SWELL collection are reason to visit in their own right. Our ‘art sophistication’ isn’t that great, but even so, we enjoyed looking at the materials and elements that made up the pieces (and trying to work out what the piece was ‘saying’ – some pretty interesting results when you’re asking for opinions of a 4 and 2 year-old…). Many pieces are somewhat interactive – you can walk through and around them or otherwise find a way to make yourself part of the art.

Regardless of your level of art appreciation, SWELL provides part of a great day out on the Gold Coast. We finished our day by exploring Currumbin Rocks and playing in the playground and swimming in the calmer waters at the nearby Currumbin Lakes.

And of course, there was ice-cream. I may, or may not, have used it as a bribe to convince two kids to walk back to the car…

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The Whale’s Tale

The Whale’s Tale

Free
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Part of Horizon Festival 2018
Annual recurring arts festival in August
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Target Age Group
Kindergarten & Lower Primary

Free

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Part of Horizon Festival 2018
Annual recurring arts festival in August
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Target Age Group
Kindergarten & Lower Primary
Being Adventure Friday, we decided to travel a bit further from home and ventured to the Maroochy Bushland Botanic Gardens for ‘A Whale’s Tale’. This children’s play is part of the Horizon Arts Festival 2018 and is presented by Born in a Taxi theatre company.

The Whale’s Tale is about Manilayo, a whale and The Navigator. Manilayo has become sick and Dr. Walrus helps The Navigator restore the whale back to health. Five lucky members of the audience (4 children and one adult) are chosen to assist The Navigator and Dr. Walrus with caring for Manilayo.

Rubbish pollution and changing human behaviour are the principle themes of the show, presented in a way that resonates with younger audiences. It wasn’t exactly a riveting show from an adult’s perspective, but there are the occasional one liners and off the cuff statements pitched at the parents/adults in the crowd. The show was highly engaging for younger children (ideally kindergarten and lower primary age groups), with lots of slapstick and toilet humour.

After the performance, we were able to get up close to the whale and even look down its mouth.

Skuzz and Planet Duplo really loved the performance and haven’t stopped talking about it since. The environmental message has also hit home – Skuzz has been busily picking up rubbish to stop the whales getting sick. Yay!

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‘Jem’ at Southbank

‘Jem’ at Southbank

Free
 
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Permanent
Light activity varies by time of day

Free

 
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Permanent

Light activity varies by time of day
Tonight, we headed in to South Bank Parklands for a quick meal at the Night Noodle Markets, then to check out ‘Jem’ by night.

‘Jem’ is an interactive (or immersive, depending on the time of day) sculpture at Flowstate (towards the Tribune St end of South Bank Parklands). Jem is basically a circular structure that creates a cage, lined with LED lights. We’ve only previously played with Jem during the day – the LED lights flash and make patterns based on your movement underneath it.

Night is a different story. Jem becomes a choreography of light and sound, with patterns of coloured light created to complement music. Reclined seating (of a sort) underneath the sculpture allows viewers to lie down, relax and watch the show unfold.

It was a bit busy when we were there – I’m not sure whether this is usual or just a result of the Night Noodle Markets attracting a higher number of people to South Bank on a Thursday night. Either way, it didn’t take long for us to be able to lie on the chairs and watch. And once we’d had a decent turn, we vacated our seat for someone else, grabbed a picnic blanket from our bag and lay on the ground to continue watching.

When we first arrived at Jem, it was turned off not long after we got settled so that some lights for an upcoming performance at Flowstate could be tested. While we waited for Jem to resume operation, we walked across the Goodwill Bridge to look at the QUT fairy light trees. If you’re in South Bank in the evening, a short walk across the river is a great add-on activity!

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An Evening with Puppets

An Evening with Puppets

Free
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Part of Festival 2018 Brisbane

Free

 
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Part of Festival 2018 Brisbane
 
Both kids were a bit hyped up tonight, so we packed a picnic dinner and made use of a conveniently-located after-hours work carpark and headed to South Bank Parklands for some more Festival 2018 puppet action.

First up was ‘Megafauna’ by Dead Puppet Society. This featured a family of three dinosaur (diprotodon) puppets – two parent and one baby – that weaved their way through the crowds gathered for the live music in the Cultural Forecourt. The diprotodons ‘talked’ to each other in grunts and groans, stopped to munch on some grass and interacted with the crowd for some sniffing, nuzzling and pats.

The feature of the evening (for us) was String Symphony, in which 12 members of the public worked together to operate Lior, a 4m high marionette made from 2km of rope. The name ‘Lior’ means ‘I have light’ and, true to his name, LED lights entwined in the rope that has made Lior’s body makes him glow in the evening sky. The workshop lasted for 30 minutes and during that time, 3 different crews of 12 people were selected from the crowd to control Lior to create a variety of movement patterns. Dodge controlled Lior’s shoulders in the first rotation and Skuzz controlled Lior’s left lower arm in the last rotation of the workshop we watched. During Dodge’s rotation, the 12 ‘novice puppeteers’ worked together to make Lior run and swing through the sky. During Skuzz’s rotation, the 12 ‘novice puppeteers’ created a range of new yoga poses, named after animals and activities, culminating in the ‘sleeping rabbit’ in which Lior bounced on four legs like a rabbit before gently curling up and falling asleep.

 

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