EDIT: Fairy Fanfare is on again in 2010. It is a free performance filled with acrobatics and fabulous fairy antics for both boys and girls and is held in the beautiful Fitzroy Gardens in East Melbourne near the Fairies Tree (Melway ref: 2G C3). Performance are daily from Saturday 16 January to Sunday 31 January at 10am and noon. Below you will find my review of their performance in 2009. If you are looking for other activities for the kids in Jan 2010, you can check out my school holiday post.
In my post on 10 Children’s Activities in Melbourne for January I highlighted Fairy Fanfare at the Fitzroy Gardens as a great free event.
On Friday I took the children into see the performance. I have to be honest and note that my older two boys were not at all impressed with this. I explained to them that when they were younger than Possum and Babaganouski that I took them to see this performance and they had a great time.
We then had a discussion about sharing family time and outings so that all children’s needs and wants are met over the school holidays. Given that their dad had earlier in the week taken them and a friend each to see Melbourne Victory vs Adelaide (Football or Soccer depending on where you are from!), I asked them if they really felt that they had anything to complain about? Thankfully there attitude changed and they took along books to read to amuse themselves.
The show was different from my last viewing and I did see the older boys enjoy the acrobatic components of the performance, even if they didn’t join in singing the Fairy Dust Magic song.
Possum really enjoyed the show and participated with great enthusiasm. It didn’t hold Babaganouski’s attention as much as I would have thought, but I think that was more to do with where we were sitting than anything else. (See tips below.)
Fariry Fanfare works best for preschoolers (of both sexes) but can be enjoyed by older and younger children. To ensure you obtain maximum enjoyment of the show, I recommend:
- Arriving early. We had appointments before hand and arrived right on time which left us at the very back. It did make it difficult for Babagansouki (2.5 y.o) to be able to easily follow and hear what was going on.
- Take a picnic blanket. There is lots of grass, but also a large section of tan bark, which doesn’t make for a comfortable seat.
- Bring your own snack. Although Fairy Fanfare is located near the cafe, service is not speedy due to queues and it is also very pricey! Snacks works well to keep the children occupied while you are waiting for the show to start.
- Take hats and sunscreen. Although a mild summers day for us, we were sitting directly in the sun and it would have been easy for the children to get sun burned.