Let reading take you anywhere these school holidays
Let reading take you anywhere these school holidays
From Monday 11to Friday 15 July, the Premier’s Reading Challenge will host a range of free sessions and activities across the City of Perth. If you're looking for activities for the whole family these school holidays, the Festival of Words is the answer to the boredom blues.
Be a newsreader. Discover a new story. Meet the author. Drive your friends banana(gram)s. Draw a cartoon. Write a love letter. You can even get famous on the Yagan Square Digital Tower!
Bring the whole family to enjoy the magic, and don’t forget to add all of your reading activities to your challenge bookshelf.
You can also download 3 free ebooks or audiobooks from over 1 million titles to join in the wonder of the festival at home, thanks to the State Library of Western Australia.
Free ebooks and audiobooks
Free ebooks and audiobooks
Where will reading take you these holidays?
Download 3 free ebooks or audiobooks thanks to the State Library of Western Australia. You're just seconds away from hours of entertainment!
With online resources including ebooks and audiobooks for both kids and adults, there are endless stories to discover. Remember to log the books you read (or listen to!) on your reading challenge bookshelf!
If you haven’t yet signed up for the Premier’s Reading Challenge, start your reading journey and register today.
Don't miss storytime with the Rt Hon the Lord Mayor, Mr Basil Zempilas, at the City of Perth Library Children's Floor.
The Story Circle
Presented by Awesome Arts
11:00 am to 11:30 am, Yagan Square Amphitheatre
Booking not required.
Autocue Challenge
Calling all budding newsreaders, CEOs, prime ministers, or even presidents! Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a newsreader? Here’s a chance to try it for yourself.
Recommended for children and young adults aged 10 to 17.
11:00 am to 1:00 pm, State Library of Western Australia (The Nook, Ground floor)
Join us for a special storytime with the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor, Mr Basil Zempilas, to celebrate the Premiers Reading Challenge. Recommended for children aged 2 and above.
2:00 pm to 3:00 pm, City of Perth Library (Children's Floor, Level 4)
Calling all budding newsreaders, CEOs, prime ministers, or even presidents! Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a newsreader? Here’s a chance to try it for yourself.
Recommended for children and young adults aged 10 to 17.
11:00 am to 1:00 pm, State Library of Western Australia (The Nook, ground floor)
A magical installation of students’ letters of love to heroes, family members and pets.
11:30 am to 1:00 pm, Yagan Square
Booking not required.
Storytime with Grandma Rosie
Presented by Perth City Farm
Rosie will read a story and share her wisdom. Participants will join her on an adventure; to meet the chickens and smell some herbs and flowers. Morning tea is provided for kids and carers.
Recommended for children in Kindergarten to Year 3.
If you're heading to Storytime with Grandma Rosie, catch the Yellow CAT musical transfer to Perth City Farm for a musical off-peak storytime adventure. Think 'The Wheels on the Bus', 'The Wiggles' or 'Wonky Donkey'.
Explore the world of (maga)zine making with artist Samatha Hughes. In this workshop you will explore storytelling and create your own handmade magazine or book.
Calling all budding newsreaders, CEOs, prime ministers, or even presidents! Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a newsreader? Here’s a chance to try it for yourself.
Recommended for children and young adults aged 10 to 17.
11:00 am to 1:00 pm, State Library of Western Australia (The Nook, ground floor)
Visit the ultimate photo booth and star on the Yagan Square giant screen.
2:00 pm to 4:00 pm, Yagan Square
Booking not required.
Bananagram Alley
Like Scrabble without the board, it's the anagram game that will drive you bananas! Will you be Top Banana?
2:00 pm to 4:00 pm, Yagan Square
Booking not required.
Immersive Storytime: The Greatest Magician in the World
Abracadabra! Enter a world of wonder and magic with dazzling tricks and illusions as a magician tells the story of Elliot and his quest to become The Greatest Magician in the World.
With his top hat on and some mind-blowing tricks up his sleeve, there is no doubt our magician's illusions will be a crowd pleaser for all!
Suitable for everyone 6 years and older - both the young and young at heart!
Join local author Rachel Watts for a reading from her award-winning novel Survival, a dystopian work about love set against the backdrop of economic and environmental crisis. You'll then balance the dystopia with some hope by exploring the grounds of Perth City Farm.
This event is a chance for young people to connect over the fiction they love, discover new local works to read, and experience a living community that is actively engaged with climate action.
Suitable for children and young adults aged 12 to 18. Parents are encouraged to attend.
2:00 pm to 3:00 pm, Perth City Farm Catch the Yellow CAT to Perth City Farm from Yagan Square CAT stop 66 at 2:30 pm.
A magical installation of students’ letters of love to heroes, family members and pets.
9:00 am to 10:30 am, Yagan Square
Booking not required.
Immersive Storytime - Better in Braille
Have you ever wondered how vision-impaired people read? Do they have to sit NAPLAN tests? Do they have a favourite book? Caitlin Hanen-Williams will answer these questions and more in an interactive session.
Calling all budding newsreaders, CEOs, prime ministers, or even presidents! Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a newsreader? Here’s a chance to try it for yourself.
Recommended for children and young adults aged 10 to 17.
11:00 am to 1:00 pm, State Library of Western Australia (The Nook, Ground floor)
Learn all things hip hop and poetry in an exciting workshop with Perth writer Daniel Hansen.
Daniel Hansen is a Noongar writer from Armadale. He started to write poems at age 11 after being inspired by Eminem’s album 'The Marshall Mathers LP'. Come along for some cool beats and to hear about how Daniel has built a career doing what he loves.
Recommended for children and young adults aged 10 to 18.
Don't miss a fabulous Drag Storytime with Cougar Morrison at WA Museum Boola Bardip. (Photo by Luke Riley.)
Immersive Storytime: Land of Legends
Be inspired at the Festival of Words with an interactive reading of Land of Legends, St John of God Ambulance WA's first children's book. Discover stories about their legendary workers and volunteers, meet their paramedics saving lives and tour the Wiggles Ambulance.
10:00 am to 10:30 am, Yagan Square (Fully booked. Join the waitlist.)
11:15 am to 12:00 pm, Yagan Square (Recommended for children aged 8 to 11)
Fabulous Perth drag performer Cougar will read books by local authors (as well as some of her own favourite stories) at this free event suitable for the whole family to enjoy. After storytime has finished, there will be an opportunity to meet and take photographs with the Queen.
Suitable for all ages.
10:30 am to 11:00 am, WA Museum Boola Bardip (Hackett Hall)
Calling all budding newsreaders, CEOs, prime ministers, or even presidents! Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a newsreader? Here’s a chance to try it for yourself.
Recommended for children and young adults aged 10 to 17.
11:00 am to 1:00 pm, State Library of Western Australia (The Nook, Ground floor)
Visit the ultimate photo booth and star on the giant screen of Yagan Square's iconic Digital Tower.
12:30 pm to 2:30 pm, Yagan Square
Booking not required.
Bananagram Alley
Like Scrabble without the board, it's the anagram game that will drive you bananas! Will you be Top Banana?
12:30 pm to 2:30 pm, Yagan Square
Booking not required.
Immersive Storytime: 'The Potions Master', Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Step into the magic of potions class with your fellow magic enthusiasts after a mystical chapter reading of chapter 8, 'The Potions Master', from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Decorate the castle, put on your robes and we'll supply the magic. Get ready to practice your wizardry skills under the watchful eye of our very own potions professors.
Suitable for witches, wizards and muggles aged 10 to 16.
All events are free, but bookings are essential for many of them.
Unless otherwise noted, you only need to register tickets for your child. There will be space for parents and carers at each event.
Either print your tickets or bring them on your phone – but don't worry if you forget, we'll have your name at the door.
If you can't make it anymore, make sure to cancel your booking to let another family enjoy the event. If you need help, use the contact information on the event booking page.
Supervision
We're here to entertain and inspire, but not to supervise. Children must be supervised by a parent or carer at all times, including during booked events. It's more fun when we stick together!
Access and inclusion
The Festival of Words is an accessible and inclusive event. All event venues are accessible.
Our venues
Let reading take you all over the City of Perth these holidays! Yagan Square becomes the center of splendid stories as our festival hub, presented by DevelopmentWA. The magic also spreads to venues across the City - even a CAT bus!
It's simple to get the whole family to the festival with lots of easy transport options. If you're taking the train, a FamilyRider ticket gets up to 7 people (2 standard and 5 concession) a day of unlimited travel for just $9.80.
Let reading take you all over the City of Perth these holidays! Yagan Square becomes the center of splendid stories as our festival hub, presented by DevelopmentWA. The magic also spreads to venues across the City - even a CAT bus!
