As proud volunteer organisers of the River Festival we constantly look for innovative ways to evolve our program to be culturally aware, reflect community values, build a more sustainable and environmentally conscious event, and offer our people new and diverse experiences. We feel we are all part of nature. This country provides for us and we are all responsible for caring for it.
We know our volunteer firies, who are absolute legends, breathed a big sigh of relief when we swapped our traditional fireworks for a lantern finale. Our local crews have spent years on standby in case a stray spark ignited our beautiful forests. Finally, they too might be able to enjoy the Festival without the increased threat of bushfire. There are plenty of opportunities for Festival goers to participate in the finale. Lantern workshops are currently underway and unique New Orleans inspired brass band, Junkadelic, will provide the music, drum making and percussion workshops to add a vibrant feature during the lantern parade. Register for a free workshop now via Humanitix. Want to help carry a lantern? Check in at the Festival Information stall on the day.
Mighty Dragon Boards offer a worthy challenge to those who want to get involved in river racing, built for teams of 4, these are stand up paddle boards with a difference. They glide through the water swiftly with the power of 8 arms paddling at once! We will leave the recyclable boat building materials to Containers for Change for now, which we hope you will agree is an extremely worthwhile initiative to support. Register your Dragon Board race team via Humanitix and take advantage of the professional instructors and boards generously supplied for the day by Perth SUP School.
Go2Cup will join us again with their reusable serve ware. At an investment of more than $6000 for the Festival we love these guys and believe this is a wonderful way to reduce Festival waste and avoid landfill. Nice for you to eat your delicious noodles from a real bowl too!
Things have changed dramatically after Covid-19 with organising events. Resurrecting the Festival has been tough to meet constantly shifting guidelines and to keep our Festival goers safe we are urging everyone to purchase tickets online via Humanitix.com and register their details before the big day. We are also minimising the need for our volunteers to handle cash. We will have limited credit card facilities at the Turner Street gate if you need help to buy a ticket and you are always welcome to contact us via our Info email or socials as well.
We made a conscious choice to use Humanitix for our ticket sales and workshop registrations because they have contributed more than $1.5M of their fees towards charities and humanitarian projects. We too invest in our local clubs and organisations to benefit our community, through the Event proceeds, so we feel their philosophy aligns with our own not for profit ethos.
Not only do we work hard to bring you a fantastic selection of food, markets, educational stalls, and other amusements in one location, but we also think our $10 entry tickets are great value because of all the free stuff on offer once you enter the gate. There is a myriad of experiences you can prebook or opt in for on the day, heaps of community art, learn new creative techniques by decorating a possum box, enjoy one of our first ever skateboard workshops, boogie at a roller disco. Have a go at energy ball rolling or make your own smoothie, grab a free cookbook, join a cultural walk, have a percussion lesson, cuddle a python, go for a pony ride, or visit Old MacDonald’s farm. Enjoy some quiet fairy craft under the peppy trees before you get your face painted for the silent disco. Hungry? Enjoy free continuous fruit along with filtered water, even grab a complimentary water bottle if you forget yours. BYO a t-shirt, hat, and socks to try screen printing or even stand-up paddle boarding for the first time, meet Nixie the Mermaid and Fairy Sandie or help Kiteman fly his kites, you can even runaway to the Circus without leaving the event! And we haven’t mentioned the music yet! Where else can you experience an entire day of live entertainment included in that one low ticket price. We welcome Tex Perkins and The Fat Rubber Band for the first time to Augusta along with The Australian AC/DC Experience to round off the awesome line up we have planned.
So, come on down and join us for a great day of fun on the banks of our beautiful Blackwood River, Augusta, and we will even supply the sunscreen!