Free Activities in Perth October 2013

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Tue 01 Oct 2013 - Sun 27 Oct 2013

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There's no doubt about it, the biggest thing in the family free event calendar this month has got to be the Awesome Festival. This annual event has always been giving families opportunities to get hands on with whatever the theme of the activity happens to be. I will definitely not miss it.


But beside the two weeks of Awesome, there are some other great activities as well, for the school holiday as well as the weekends during school weeks. So check out the calendar below, read on for further details, and do your bookings early where necessary.



[SECTION]Awesome Festival[/SECTION]


Awesome Festival is so big that I reckon it deserves a category on its own. The annual AWESOME International Arts Festival for Bright Young Things surely needs no introduction. It's the place where families could introduce children to art that's not too high and mighty for their young minds. This year they'll occupy Perth Cultural Centre from 5-18 October and as usual, they have an array of free and ticketed events for the whole family. I list here a selection of their free events which are suitable for children. See here for more info.

**Dreamstore
When:** Workshop: 5-12 Oct; Display: 5-14 Oct; 10am (11am on Sun) to 4pm
Where: Perth Cultural Centre (outdoor)

It's a wonderfully imaginative activity for children (five years and up) where they're asked to think of a dream (becoming an olympics swimmer? Starting a website that's even bigger than Google?) and bottle them to be displayed at Dreamstore's shelves. Workshops could only be booked on the day.

**Big Picture, Small People
When:** 5-14 Oct
Where: State Library of WA's theatre (11-11.50am)/ Perth Cultural Centre Amphiteatre (12-12.50pm)

This faithful member of Awesome Festival will be back with a selection of short movies for children. They will be screened both in the comfort of an indoor theatre and on the large screen outside the library.

**Trolleys
When:** 12-14 Oct, 10.30-10.50am & 1-1.20pm
Where: Perth Cultural Centre Amphitheatre

This energetic outdoor dance/ ballet performed with five supermarket trolleys as the main characters will surely attract the whole family's attention. Just warn your kids not even to think of trying it unless you want to be banned from your local supermarket.

**Fluid Switchboard
When:** 5-14 Oct, 10am (11am on Sun) to 4pm
Where: State Library of WA's pond

Finally, someone is going to make use of the pond in front of the State Library for something fun. I know they floated paper boats there before, but this is way more fun than that. There will be an art installation using day-to-day water-related items like buckets, sprinklers, hoses, etc which the kids (five years and up) can interact with. Of course they will get wet.

**Robot Road Trip
When:** 5-11 Oct
Where: See below

Robot Road Trip is a mobile arts technology experience that travels around Australia to involve participants (five years and up) in robotic. For this festival, there are four different activities planned:

ROBOT SOCCER: Control your robot to score a goal at Perth Cultural Centre Amphitheatre (5 Oct 10am-12pm; 7 & 9 Oct 2-4pm; 11 Oct 1-4pm).
ROBOT RELAY: Control your robot arm to receive and pass on the relay stick at Perth Cultural Centre Amphitheatre (6, 8, & 10 Oct 10am-12pm).
ROBOT STORY TIME: A story (complete with corny jokes) told by a robot, now that's something I haven't seen before. For kids 4-10 yrs. Bookings essential at trybooking.com/DHHN.
ROBOT CITY: Play with small robots that could detect and follow lines. For kids 3-8 yrs. Bookings essential at trybooking.com/DHHO.

[SECTION]Library Holiday Events[/SECTION]

Lots and lots of libraries faithfully hold holiday events. The ones listed here are just samples (one north of the river and one south) of what's out there, so if the time/ venue do not suit, you might find something more suitable at your own neighbourhood. Reservations are generally required and places fill fast, so get moving and booking.

**City of Stirling's Libraries
When:** 1-10 Oct
Where: City of Stirling's Libraries
More info here .

Stirling Libraries organise two highly different activities this holiday, therefore catering for the scientific kids as well as the artistic kids. Firstly, they invite Scitech to conduct two shows, one titled 'Supercool' for kids 9-12 years, and the other 'Where is air' for kids 5-8 years. From its title, we could guess that 'Supercool' would have something to do with the very cool (literally as well as metaphorically) liquid nitrogen. 'Where is air' will use various ways including balloons to show the existence of air. Secondly, the Stirling Libraries also organise Junkadelic Brass Band to teach kids how to make music using junk.



**City of Gosnell's Libraries
When:** 7-12 Oct
Where: City of Gosnell's Libraries
More info here .

For those living south of the river, City of Gosnell is one example of a council having free school holiday events. They have a wide variety of activities, some utilising the in-house Wii consoles, and others inviting guests (including the cold-blooded kind) to entertain the kids.



[SECTION]Other Weekends[/SECTION]

**Mad Hatter Markets Fun Fair
When:** Sat, 5 Oct, 10am-4pm
Where: Kings Square, Fremantle
More info here

Mad Hatter Markets is a relatively new market which opens every Wed to Sun at Kings Square, Fremantle. In it, you'd find art and crafts as well as fresh local produce. This October, they're launching their first ever Family Fun Day which they plan to organise monthly from here on. Similar to any self-respecting family fun days, they will provide live entertainment on stage and children activities such as animal farm, balloons, face-painting, mini train, paint-a-parasol and more. But more importantly, you get to soak up the atmosphere you only get at markets (and never at supermarkets) while letting the kids have fun.

** Box City
When:** Sat, 19 Oct, 10am-2pm
Where: The Place, State Library of WA, Perth Cultural Centre
More info here .


Give your kids the opportunity to play with something they love: Boxes. The best part is that all the mess--the spilled glue, the left over cut out cardboards, even the final products--will not be in my lounge room. I'm not sure about you, but my house's designated area for kids' art & craft are already choc-a-block, I don't think I can cope with an additional City of Boxes. So I'm happy to let somebody else organise everything for us. All we have to do is rock up.

**Little Hands Festival
When:** Sun, 20 Oct, 12-3pm
Where: Kadidjiny Park, 70-72 Curtis Rd, Melville
More info here .


Little Hands Festival is a free event organised by the City of Melville to celebrate Children's Week and Community Safety Month. Entertainment promised includes face-painting, pony-rides, balloon sculptures, craft activities, bouncy castle and animal nursery. If you come dressed up as a wizard or fairy, you'll receive an Enchanted Garden Map. I wonder if the garden or the map is enchanted (I hope both). And if you wizards misplace your flying broom, you'd want to know that public parking will be available off McKnight Place (next to Melville Primary School).

**Spooky Halloween Bike Ride
When:** Sat, 26 Oct, 6pm check-in, 7-9pm ride
Where: Yokine Reserve, Wordsworth Avenue, Yokine
More info here .

Halloween is not a big event here in Australia (at least not compared to the US). However if you feel like it, there's nothing stopping you from joining in the spirit of the event by dressing yourself and your bike up, and go on this 2km route which will be decorated with spooky lanterns.

**Whim Festival
When:** Sun, 27 Oct
Where: Pioneer Park, Mt Helena
More info here .

There are so many festivals and family fun days that organisers certainly have to come up with a unique name to be noticed and remembered. I think the organiser of this festival has achieved this. It's so easy to be attracted by the name 'whim' and follow our whim to the Perth Hills area and more specifically to Mt. Helena on this Sunday. But why not. The whole family will be entertained by the performers on stage, as well as by the various activities such as sand sculpting, gourmet tent, wine tasting, rides. Entry and most activities are free.

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#family
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#october
!date 01/10/2013 -- 27/10/2013
%wnperth