TMAG festival fun lifts off for sixth year

Kids drawing with chalk on the pavement at Lift Off launch

This week the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) is delighted to welcome children and their families to the sixth edition of our popular Festival for Children and Young People, Lift Off!

This year’s Lift Off! is set to be bigger than ever, with a range of free or low-cost events and activities for children of all ages based on the theme ‘spring’.

TMAG’s Programs and Community Engagement Manager Michael McLaughlin said the Festival would bring the cultural precinct in and around TMAG’s waterfront site in Hobart alive for a four-day and one-evening program of engaging, educational and inspiring activities, performances and workshops.

“We have partnered with a range of allied organisations to activate this cultural precinct for families and children, and we look forward to presenting a dynamic and exciting program this week,” Michael said.

“Lift Off is a platform for young people and children to explore new ideas and experiences through hands-on activities and inspiring presentations.

“Young people have been actively involved in planning and delivering the Festival, with the TMAG Young People’s Reference Panel taking the lead in hosting the Festival opening on Wednesday 5 October.”

A highlight of the Festival program is set to be the presentation of Patch Theatre’s incredible interactive Sea of Light installation in the atmospheric Bond Store Basement.

Other highlights include the Small Stories Project artist residency, which will create a large-scale ephemeral public artwork in Dunn Place, as well as a series of workshops and talks from the 2022 Australian Children’s Laureate, author and illustrator Gabrielle Wang.

Also included in the program is an extensive schedule of museum-inspired activities, including those focused on TMAG’s ever-popular children’s gallery mapiya lumi | around here.

Other regular Festival programming is returning in 2022, including the School Banner Project which will see banners created by 23 schools across Tasmania displayed around TMAG’s site, as well as the Up Late evening opening of the museum especially for children aged 10–14.

Lift Off! is supported by the City of Hobart, with additional support from Hydro Tasmania and The Allport Bequest.

Lift Off! runs from 5–8 October 2022 at TMAG and entry is free. For more information and the full program, visit www.tmag.tas.gov.au/liftoff.