Come and party

Come and party

By Sunny Liu

A first-of-its-kind street festival is taking over Little Docklands Drive and Waterfront Way at The District Docklands on December 16.

The Petting Zoo Festival features music from an international line-up such as Format B, Finnebassen, Camelphat, Kolombo, who are making their Australian debut, as well as another 20 local musicians.

With a tagline of “see you at the zoo”, the animal-themed festival will see a large crowd of young people descend at The District for a big day out filled with tunes, treats and drinks from 12-11pm.

Decorations consisting of vibrant colours, hay, inflatable animals, special effects, hanging gardens, ball pits and pallet furniture will create the surreal experience of stepping into a zoo for festival-goers.

The festival is the brainchild of a group of young directors, Adam McKenzie, Gideon Luber, Asher Luber and Joshua Paneth.

The team said The District was transforming into a cultural precinct with a lot of potential to attract more diverse festivities.

“It’s a space that’s really taking off. Our festival is really exciting and it would be great to bring that element to the space, in addition to everything else that’s going on here,” Mr Paneth said.

“The District is pretty open to anything. They want to try out a bunch of new different things, such as street art, great food and performances. They just want to support and be part of that,” Mr Paneth said.

The group also said the festival would bring more young adults to Docklands.

“It definitely brings new vibrancy to the area. A lot of people, in that demographic, have never been down here before.”

“It’s almost like an opening party for The District, introducing it to everyone just before summer,” Mr McKenzie said.

The street party also has a “battle stage”, where artists will vie for the “King of The Zoo” title.

Using The District’s newly-painted street art walls as the backdrop, the festival will also include live and static art installations around the enclosure for festival-goers to explore and discover throughout the party.

Artworks on display include artist Heesco’s live painting of a 5m x 13m wall, Buff Diss’s tape art and Elsie Art Design’s paper craft animal heads that will make an amazing photo.

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