Family Fiesta unveils jam-packed festival for the June-July school holidays

Family Fiesta is an annual jam-packed school holiday festival of literature, art and live performance – all at very low ticket prices or free – presented by Monash University Performing Arts Centres (MPAC) on 28 June – 1 July 2023. 
 
The program kicks off with the world premiere of The Velveteen Rabbit by Born in a Taxi, and continues with The Carnival of the Animals with Sammy J; a 40 year celebration with author Mem Fox for Possum Magic; Claire Hooper onstage with Princess Benjamina Has a Very Cheeky Bum and much more, all taking place at the Ian Potter Centre for Performing Arts. 

It’s rabbit season at Family Fiesta with a brand new production of The Velveteen Rabbit, commissioned by MPAC to premiere in its renowned home of children’s theatre, the Alexander Theatre. The toys are in charge! BYO snuggly toy and join an unpredictable adventure about a toy rabbit who becomes real…but how did it happen? Expect the unexpected as Melbourne theatre company Born in a Taxi thoughtfully and hilariously reimagines this 100-year-old timeless classic by Margery Williams. Runs 28, 29, 30 June.

On 30 June, legendary author and national treasure, Mem Fox, is live on stage, sharing all the adventures of 40 years of Possum Magic. There’s also a chance to meet Mem for a book signing and eat your way through a Possum Magic menu in The Count’s restaurant with mini pavlovas, pumpkin scones, minties and lamingtons.  

Comedian, musician, author and radio host Sammy J narrates The Carnival of the Animals, featuring verse by beloved Australian playwright, Nick Enright on 1 July. Hear the talented players of the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music and Performance perform Camille Saint-Saëns’s classic score.

Channel Ten’s The Project regular Claire Hooperpresents an afternoon of laughter, cheer and cheekiness on 1 July. Claire brings her wit and humour as she talks about being a comedian, writer and how she dreamed up Princess Benjamina Has a Very Cheeky Bum.

Enjoy free lunchtime music with Pluck! in The Count’s from 28 June to 1 July. Hear guitar music from around the world, using stringed instruments, from mandolins, ukes, banjos, pedal steel, electric and classical guitars as well as other random pluckable things. Over the course of Family Fiesta, The Count’s is ready to welcome families with a delicious menu, free babycinos and colouring in to make little ones feel right at home.

Continuing the free music at The Count’s is much-loved Australian jazz singer Tamara Kuldin, for an afternoon of sweet swingin’ melodic mayhem to put a smile on the faces of big and little kids alike on 29 & 30 June.
 
From 28 June through 1 July, the foyer of The Ian Potter Centre of Performing Arts will be transformed into a free installation asking, “what if wild animals lived among us in our city?” Wild City is a chance to enjoy the interactive miniature sculptural city where humans, plants and animals live together. Multi-disciplinary visual artist Kathy Holowko introduces children to ideas of human and animal architecture and shows hybrid examples of coexistence, in an experience where children are then invited to draw, plant and construct their ideas onto the mini city. 
 
Families can soak up the lively atmosphere in-between shows and events at Family Fiesta, making a day out of it with fun for all. All events are either free or have a maximum ticket price of $15, making it the perfect low cost day out for families this school holiday.

Visit monash.edu/pac to learn more.