Youth event gets whole family involved

Youth festivals shifted it up a gear, with more than 2500 kids and their families gathering at the Graham Bricknell Memorial Music Shell on Saturday.

The Shift Youth Festival hosted a diverse range of activities from skateboarding workshops to a 3x3 basketball competition – proving popular with the boys.

Bunbury Youth Mayor Sean Smith said he was thrilled to see so many people turn out for the event.

“We have had heaps of positive feedback about all of the different activities going on and that there was something tailored for everyone,” he said

“It was a really good day and I believe it went really well overall.”

Mr Smith said it was great to not only see young people attend the festival but also young people with their families.

“We had a variety of different events and activities targeted for different demographics,” he said.

“We had a lot of young people and their families engaging in a lot of community activities which was great to see.”

Mr Smith said youth events were an important aspect in regional areas.

“Young people, generally people in Bunbury or regional hubs in their teenage years, don’t feel like there is much for them,” Mr Smith said.

“Shift gives younger people the opportunity to engage in free live music and fun activities – so as part of Youth Week WA it was a great chance to put on the Shift Festival to really celebrate young people in the community.”

The Bunbury Youth Advisory Council will look to continue the festival in years to come.

“Shift is an annual event that we keep changing, keep growing and adapting and it seems to be getting more successful each year as we go along,” he said.