LIGHTS UP KIDS FESTIVAL 2026
Performing Arts Festival for Kids
Watch · Create · Perform
7 – 9 October 2026 · Flight Path Theatre, Marrickville
Lights Up Kids Festival is back - and it's our biggest yet.
Three days of live performance, workshops and a talent quest for kids aged 5–12. Watch a world premiere show. Get hands-on with professional artists. Take the stage yourself. Whatever your child loves, there is a place for them here!
WATCH the world premiere of Mooncake - one moon, many stories. A brand new puppetry show by Shiny Heart Productions.
CREATE in hands-on workshops in puppetry, drama, music and comedy - led by professional artists.
PERFORM in the inaugural Inner West Talent Quest - sing, dance, act, circus, or show us what you've got. Solo, duo, or group. $1,000 in prizes to be won! ENTER THE TALENT QUEST - IT'S FREE
CAMP with us all day - our Performing Arts Holiday Camp runs across all three days for kids aged 5–12, 9am–3pm.
Every child who comes to Lights Up Kids Festival has a role. A story to watch. Something to make. A stage to claim. Come and celebrate the magic of the performing arts with us this spring school holidays.
Lights Up Kids Festival is presented by Shiny Heart Productions and Flight Path Theatre, and supported by Inner West Council.
Empowering kids through the performing arts.
PASSES
3-Day Performing Arts Holiday Camp Pass — $260
(includes a free ukulele to take home)
Wed & Thu: 9am-3pm, Fri 9am-12pm
The ULTIMATE Lights Up Kids Festival experience! Join us for all three days of our Performing Arts Holiday Camp - shows, puppetry, drama, music, songwriting and more. Wednesday and Thursday 9am–3pm, Friday 9am–12pm. For kids aged 5–12. Camp is supervised by professional arts educators throughout the day. And all participants take home a free ukulele.
Includes: All workshops across all three days + Mooncake show + cast meet and greet + free ukulele to take home.
Wed: 9am-3pm: Puppeteering workshop, Watch Mooncake puppetry play, Drama workshop + Mooncake cast and creative meet and greet.
Thursday: 9am-3pm: Mini Musical Workshop, Improv and Comedy Workshop.
Friday: 9am-12pm: Make Music and Sing with Toy Choir Workshop (+free ukulele to take home)
All-Day Holiday Camp Pass — Day 1, Wednesday 7 October — $100
9am-3pm
A full day of performing arts for kids aged 5–12. Learn the art of puppeteering in the morning, watch the world premiere of Mooncake at 1pm, and join the Drama Workshop and Mooncake cast and creative meet and greet in the afternoon. Supervised by professional arts educators throughout. 9am–3pm.
All-Day Holiday Camp Pass — Day 2, Thursday 8 October — $100
9am-3pm
A full day of performing arts for kids aged 5–12. Learn songs, choreography and performance skills in the Mini Musical Workshop in the morning, watch Mooncake at 1pm, then discover the art of Improv and Comedy in the afternoon. Supervised by professional arts educators throughout. 9am–3pm.
*option 2 for any participants that have watched Mooncake the day before - 1pm-2pm: Improv and Comedy Workshop part 1.
WEDNESDAY 7 OCTOBER
Puppeteering Workshop — Learn the art of puppeteering
Wednesday 7 October · 9am–12pm
(Holiday campers included)
(Non-holiday campers) $60
Make your own paper puppet, learn the art of puppeteering, write your own story and perform your very own puppet play - all in one morning. In small groups, kids will bring their puppets to life. Led by the team from Shiny Heart Productions who are known for their plays: The Great Zodiac Race, Mooncake and Especially on Birthdays. For kids aged 5–12. No experience needed.
Mooncake — Show 1 (World Premiere)
Wednesday 7 October · 1pm
(Holiday campers included)
(Non-holiday campers) $30
MOONCAKE
A new work by Shiny Heart Productions · World Premiere
One moon. Many stories. Far from home. Never alone.
Sam brought mooncakes to the school bake sale. Nobody wanted any. Taj misses his nan. He hasn't told anyone how much.
In their backyard in Marrickville, as the afternoon turns gold, Sam and Taj look up at the moon together. And then, the banyan tree begins to rise, taking two friends on an unforgettable adventure far from home - to feel a little less alone.
Mooncake takes children and families from a suburban backyard all the way to the moon - where they meet a Vietnamese woodcutter who never let go, a goddess who turned her loneliness into light, and a Jade Rabbit who makes very questionable medicine. Where every mooncake ever placed on a windowsill, every lantern ever sent into the sky, every wish ever whispered into the dark - turns out to have been received.
Told through exquisite puppetry, cultural stories, music, and the physical storytelling Shiny Heart Productions is known for, Mooncake is joyful and funny and quietly moving. It is a show about feeling too different to belong, and about missing someone you love. About the stories our grandmothers carry and what happens when we finally listen. About looking up at the same moon from different sides of the world and realising: we are never as alone as we feel.
Sam enters holding the mooncake away from herself. She leaves holding it out to someone else. Every wish, every prayer and every memory sent upward has always been received by the one moon. And always will.
For children aged 5+ and their families.
Running time approximately 45 minutes. No interval.
Content warning: Mooncake gently explores themes of grief, loss and belonging. These themes are handled with care and age-appropriate warmth. If your child has recently experienced loss, this show may resonate deeply.
PERFORMANCES
Show 1 — World Premiere · Wednesday 7 October · 1pm · $30
Show 2 · Wednesday 7 October · 4pm · $30
Show 3 · Thursday 8 October · 1pm · $30
AFTER THE SHOW
Drama Workshop + Cast Meet and Greet · Wednesday 7 October · 2pm · $20
Mooncake is part of Shiny Heart Productions' Cultural Tales Series — theatre inspired by generational stories passed down through families from around the world. Presented with Flight Path Theatre as part of Lights Up Kids Festival 2026, supported by Inner West Council.
Drama Workshop + Mooncake cast Meet and Greet
Wednesday 7 October · 2pm–3pm · $20
(Non-holiday campers)
Go behind the scenes of Mooncake. Join the Shiny Heart Production creative team for an interactive drama workshop inspired by the Mooncake show, then stay to meet the cast and ask your burning questions. For kids aged 5–12.
Moon Cake — Show 2
Wednesday 7 October · 4pm · $30
THURSDAY 8 OCTOBER
Mini Musical Workshop — Learn a Song, Master the Moves, Perform!
Thursday 8 October · 9am–12pm ·
(Holiday campers included)
(Non-holiday campers) $60
Learn a song, master the choreography, and perform your very own mini musical - all in one morning. This high-energy workshop covers singing, movement and performance skills, finishing with a live showing for family and friends. Led by the Inner West Drama Musical team who just presented a sold out season of The Little Mermaid Jr. For kids aged 5–12. No experience needed. Maximum 40 participants.
Workshop 9am–11:45am · Family and friends Performance 11:45am–12pm
Mooncake — Show 3
Thursday 8 October · 1pm ·
(Holiday campers included)
(Non-holiday campers) $30
Improv and Comedy Workshop
Thursday 8 October · 2pm–3pm
(Holiday campers included)
(Non-holiday campers) $20
Yes, and... welcome to the world of Improv and Comedy! Learn the rules of improv, discover your comic timing, and find out how to think - and laugh - on your feet. A fast-paced, joyful workshop where there are no wrong answers. Led by Inner West Drama’s Improv Educators. For kids aged 5–12.
FRIDAY 9 OCTOBER
Write Songs and Sing with Toy Choir!
Friday 9 October · 9am–12pm
(Holiday campers included)
(Non-holiday campers) - Includes ukulele kit to take home — $100
(Non-holiday campers) - BYO ukulele — $60
Join Toy Choir for a fun, hands-on songwriting workshop. Learn the basics of ukulele, write an original song together, and perform it live for family and friends at the end of the session. Perfect for beginners - no musical experience needed. Participants receive a ukulele kit to take home and keep playing long after the festival.
Workshop 9am–11:30am · Family and Friends Performance 11:30am–12pm
Toy Choir is presented by The House That Dan Built.
Inner West Talent Quest 2026 — Finals Night
Friday 9 October · 5pm ·
All tickets - $15 per person · All ages
Eight of the Inner West's most talented young performers take the stage for one unforgettable night. Singers, dancers, actors, musicians and more - all performing for a chance to win $1,000 in prizes across three awards:
🏆 Overall Winner — $500
⭐ Star Award — $250 "The performer who lit up the stage"
❤️ Heart Award — $250 "The performance that moved us most"
Judged by a panel of industry professionals. Show starts 5pm. Running time approximately 90 minutes including interval and awards ceremony.
Entry to the Talent Quest is free and open to all performers aged 5–12.
Entries close 30 August 2026.
Enter at: Talent quest
Maximum tickets = 90
All ages
