Follow your nose to Maryborough's first Sensory Festival

The Sensory Festival will be one of many events hosted by Community Lifestyle Agency held in conjunction with Disability Action Week.

Maryborough's Community Lifestyle Agency will be throwing a Sensory Festival. Gemma Weinheimer and Dom' Krueger. Picture: Valerie Horton

EXPLORE all your senses at Maryborough's first Sensory Festival.

The festival is just one of the many events hosted by Community Lifestyle Agency held in conjunction with Disability Action Week.

CLA operations manager Jess Lane said they've had similar events before that have been focussed on the multi-sensory aspects but this festival is the first of this scale.

"We will have tents and activities that are focussed on each of the different senses - so one focussed on sound, one focussed on touch, sight, taste,” Jess said.

"There will be dedicated stalls and marques for each of the senses and multiple activities as well.

"Sensory tents will includes games like follow your nose, where you have to guess the scent of some unlabelled viles of different smells; one is going to be around taste - so its food that looks like one thing but tastes like another and another game is where you will make your own optical illusion and then challenge others to guess your illusion.

"Also there will be plenty of opportunities to make different sounds with DJ turntables and drums at the sound tent.”

Maryborough's Community Lifestyle Agency will be throwing a Sensory Festival. Therisa Mews, Gemma Weinheimer, Ben Brown, Larissa Murren, Dom' Krueger and Louise MacDonald. Picture: Valerie Horton

To kick off the week, CLA will hold a barbecue breakfast.

"On Monday morning we are having a free community barbecue and will have a very special guest who is very influential in the decision making for the disability sector,” Jess said.

"We are very excited that she is able to join us for the opening of Disability Action Week.”

"On Thursday we will hold our Ability Expo where small businesses and services across the Fraser Coast who meet the needs of people with a disability or who want to learn about how their small business can meet the needs of people with a disability.

"There is no community expo on the Fraser Coast any more so this is a bit of a stop-gap for that.

"We already have 332 registered stallholders at this point.

"It is a really eclectic mix - I am so excited to have all of these people in the room together.”

To round off the end of DAW the agency has organised a Community Slumber Party.

"The slumber party is for people who perhaps aren't afforded the opportunity to go to a slumber party at their friends house or host a slumber party because there are people in their world who have disabilities or they have a disability themselves,” Jess said.

"We will provide the venue and the staff so the guys can get together for a community slumber party.”

Jess said this year's theme for Disability Action Week was Everybody has a Role.

"We wanted to hold an event that anyone might be interested in but also raise awareness around people with disabilities in our community.

"Everyone is welcome to attend.”

DETAILS

The grand opening of Fraser Coast Disability Action Week will start with a free barbecue breakfast with special guests from 8-9am on Monday, September 11.

The Sensory Festival will be held on Monday, September 11 from 9am-1pm.

The Ability Expo will showcase inclusive and adaptive services on the Fraser Coast will be held Thursday, September 14 from 9am-3pm.

The Community Slumber Party will be held from Friday, September 15 at 5pm to 11am Saturday, September 16. BYO bedding.

All events will be held at St Stephens church hall, 25 Sussex St, Maryborough - opposite the army barracks.

For more information phone Jess Lane 0429 224 682.

For information on the slumber party phone Terisa 0403 793 534.