Queensland Performing Arts Centre Announces 91,700 Attendees for Out of the Box Festival

Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) today thanked audiences, Festival partners, sponsors and volunteers, as it reflected on the success of its 20th Birthday Out of the Box Festival for Children. The Festival took place at QPAC and other Cultural Centre venues between 12 and 17 June.

Out of the Box Executive Producer Carol Davidson said that this year’s Festival was spectacular in every sense of the word.

“With an estimated 91,700 attendances across performances, free events, workshops and a symposium, this has been one of the most successful Out of the Box festivals since its inception in 1992,” Ms Davidson said.

“It was marvellous to see the entire Cultural Centre taken over by children and their families for six days in June. Events were centred at QPAC and the Cultural Forecourt, but also featured at the Museum, Art Gallery and State Library highlighting that this year’s Festival was a collaborative effort across the entire Cultural Centre Precinct.

“The 2012 Out of the Box festival coincided with the National Year of Reading, and featured books by Australian authors adapted into performances. Of particular note was Brisbane author Clare McFadden’s The Flying Orchestra which was the centrepiece of the Festival and was enjoyed by thousands of children and their parents, carers and teachers.

“Other popular events included the Sticky Maze which had almost 22,000 people make their way through a labyrinth created with 50 kilometres of sticky tape and 60,000 sheets of The Courier Mail; and the Dinosaur Petting Zoo which had to schedule extra shows owing to its overwhelming popularity.”

The Out of the Box festival has been entertaining and educating young Queenslanders for twenty years. This year the Connecting the Dots… Symposium extended the Festival to parents, teachers, artists and arts sector workers by facilitating discussions around how the arts can have a positive influence on early childhood development.

“The Connecting the Dots… Symposium set the tone for our celebratory Festival,” Ms Davidson said.

“Jude Kelly from London’s South Bank Centre and American child psychiatrist Dr Tina Payne Bryson were among the keynote speakers at the symposium who spoke about how the arts play a role in children’s development and generated discussions about the importance of the arts in education.”

The symposium was streamed live from the State Library and attended by a broad mix of local and interstate visitors.

Ms Davidson made special mention of the volunteers who provided vital assistance to Out of the Box, “importantly I would like to acknowledge and sincerely thank the close to 400 volunteers who gave their time and energy to ensuring the 2012 Out of the Box Festival was a success.”

“It is also important to acknowledge our appreciation for the great support we received from all our Out of the Box partners including major partners Brisbane City Council and The Courier-Mail, and Channel Ten and Goa who enabled us to tell as many people about the Festival as possible.”

The Queensland Government has supported Out of the Box with ongoing funding since its inception.

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