Kellerberrin Children's Festival 2007 - SPINRPHEX & WAALHIIBE

The Children’s Festival is an annual event run by SPINRPHEX. The festival was started by James Fitzpatrick (Young Australian of the Year in 2001 and past SPINRPHEX President) in 1999, and was first held in the town of Carnarvon, 904km north of Perth. At the time, Carnarvon had experienced a string of youth suicides and murders, and racial tensions between the local Indigenous community and the white population were high. The Carnarvon Children’s Festival aimed to bring the people of this community together through uniting the children in harmony, giving the town a reason to celebrate and providing some respite from their recent grief.

Since the inaugural event, festivals have been held in Mukinbudin, Koora, Southern Cross and many other towns in the Western Australian Wheatbelt. In 2007 the event was held in Kellerberrin, located 204km east of Perth in the Central Wheatbelt Region. The 2007 festival’s coordinators were Nicholas Jones from SPINRPHEX and Gemma Fisher from WAALHIIBE - as the event is now an interclub event. Activities included face painting, kite making, balloon animals, health skills, healthy eating promotions, concluding with a Bluelight Disco. Overall the event attracted 35 health students from multiple disciplines and was enjoyed by over 200 local children and their families.

Each year the festival coordinators strive to stay true to the original ideals and aims of the festival. With the 2007 Kellerberrin Youth and Children’s Festival, the aim was to give a positive rural experience to our 35 attending students, and to encourage the students to think about rural pathways, practice and lifestyles. The festival provided a wonderful opportunity to bring together Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in a harmonious environment, fostering community spirit. The festival was also a fun and innovative forum in which to promote healthy living and health careers to the local children, and to create a lasting impression on the Shire of Kellerberrin.

You can find a full report on the 2007 Kellerberrin Youth and Children's Festival here.