Sheep Suits, Acrobatics and Inflatable Installations: A New International Kids Festival Comes to Sydney This Spring

There’s something extra special about sharing an experience with your kids that also sparks a sense of childlike nostalgia. From September 26 to October 11, Sydney Opera House’s inaugural Wild Things International Kids Festival promises exactly that. Across 16 days, the program brings together acts from around the world for live performance, workshops and art installations running throughout the spring school holidays.

For 16 days, the Forecourt will host a range of free experiences, from Korean acrobatics, First Nations circus and Canadian sheep impersonators to a giant yellow nine-metre-high swing. Inside, ticketed shows span everything from immersive theatre designed for babies to playful adaptations of beloved children’s books using shadow puppetry, music and dance, plus interactive shows that invite kids to unleash their imaginations and participate in the drama. Here are our picks from the festival line-up – for every age from zero up.

ZOOOM

Before you even leave the house for ZOOOM, ask your little one to find a “piece of dark” to bring along. At the start of the show, they’ll exchange it for a handheld light that guides them through the performance. It’s an open request designed to spark conversations around light and dark, with no right or wrong choices for what they decide to bring. Created by Adelaide’s Patch Theatre, the award-winning production is inspired by the children’s book Harold and the Purple Crayon by American cartoonist Crockett Johnson. It follows a lost star’s journey home with original music, lasers, animation, and projections. Opening the festival, ZOOOM is a celebration of technology and imagination, exploring how we make sense of the world through art. September 26–29, ages 4+, from $35.

Iwagumi Air Scape

Explore a cluster of giant inflatable boulders on the Sydney Opera House Forecourt. Representing thousands of tonnes of rock in a weightless form, Iwagumi Air Scape brings a sense of wilderness to an urban setting. As you wander through the installation, a soundscape of native birds, frogs and burbling streams is triggered. Come sunset, the colourful sculptures are illuminated until 10pm each night of the festival. Created by the award-winning Melbourne-based art and technology studio Eness, the free exhibit pays homage to the Japanese art of iwagumi (a type of aquascaping with rock formations), and explores the balance and harmony found in nature. September 26–October 11, all ages, free.

Tinker Tales!

If your mini-me is fascinated by diggers, building or figuring out how things work, this show is a must. Tinker Tales! is a performance set on a construction site, full of breakdowns, power cuts and burst pipes. Using movement, music and dance, it’s a showcase of tinkering, building and repairs through a lively performance. Created by Dutch company Plan D-, the interactive show finishes with kids stepping into the action, working together to construct a plumbing system – all part of the act. October 3–5, age 6+, from $39.

Les moutons

This one is sure to have your family in fits. In Les moutons (aka “The sheep”), three ewes, a young ram and a shepherd recreate life on the farm, from grazing and shearing to milking. This free performance from Toronto-based physical theatre company Corpus comes with international acclaim for its playful study of animal behaviour. Catch one of the two 30-minute shows each day on the Forecourt and save yourself a trip to the petting zoo. October 7–11, all ages, free.

This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with Sydney Opera House. Wild Things International Kids Festival is on from September 26–October 11, with a line-up of performances, installations and workshops for young people aged 14 and under, all priced at $49 or less – including a free program on the Opera House Forecourt. Explore the sessions online.