ILT Kidzone Festival frenzy expected as ticket sales launch

See the ILT Kidzone pages

The fifth annual ILT Kidzone Festival is set to have hearts racing as eager ticket-buyers stampede in to snatch up tickets which go on sale on Monday (June 8).

The highly interactive and dynamic family festival designed to inspire and excite everyone - from toddlers to grandparents - will be again be held at the James Hargest College Senior Campus in July.

Initiated and managed by Venture Southland and funded by the Invercargill Licensing Trust, The Community Trust of Southland and other local funders and sponsors, the ILT Kidzone Festival will run for five days this year and offers 165 activities that will be of an entertaining, interactive and educational nature.

Richelle Waldron, festival director, has been working almost year-round on the festival, creating a plethora of new experiences as well as bringing back old favourites. “We’ve built on popular activities that children love but have also added in some surprises so that the festival retains its fresh and dynamic appeal for all ages,” she said.

The festival’s philosophy ensures that a myriad of highly interactive and “hands-on” experiences that are fun, entertaining and often educational is complemented by a full entertainment programme. Popular duo Morris and Morris, Dan the Puppet Man and the Magic Guy make a welcome return along with new performer, Mr Birdbrain, from Christchurch.

This week 15,000 programmes detailing information about the festival were distributed to Southland children via schools, kindergartens and playcentres. This targeted publicity campaign ensures that all families in Southland can read about and understand what the festival has on offer.

Around 9,000 people would be catered for at this year’s festival with hundreds of volunteers expected to register to help with the festival’s activities.

Invercargill Licensing Trust chairman Alan Dennis said it was brilliant to see the festival growing from strength to strength and the trust was proud to be the major sponsor for the fifth consecutive year. The Invercargill Licensing Trust and ILT Foundation were proud to be contributing a total of $80,500 towards the 2009 festival, he said.

“The festival is enjoyed by thousands of children and challenges them in a fun and learning environment, but most importantly it has a family-orientated spin.”

The Community Trust of Southland, which has also been financially involved since the festival’s inception, has also committed a significant funding contribution of $32,600.
The 2009 ILT Kidzone Festival will run over five days, from Thursday, 9 July to Monday, 13 July, to allow families to make multiple visits to the festival.

The festival will run from 10.30 am to 3.30 pm daily. All children must be accompanied by a ticket-bearing adult and all admission tickets will be priced at $13 per person.

Tickets will go on sale on Monday, 8 June and will be available from the Invercargill i-SITE at the Southland Museum and Art Gallery. Festival tickets and bus passes will also be available from all Southland District Council Area offices until 15 June.