Grounded

From the outside, the tents and food stands in Victoria Square don't look very exciting. But it is full of fun inside! Grounded is a special place where kids and adults can play. It is called "Grounded" because you can feel the ground with your feet. There are also important connections to Aboriginal culture - Victoria Square was named Tarntanyangga, which means "the dreaming place of the red kangaroo".

Grounded opened on Friday night. There was a special ceremony with the Lord Mayor and David Sefton. There was also a beautiful dance. During the Fringe, there is a music festival with different bands. On February 24, there will be an outdoor movie called Girl Asleep and red megaphones for people to use. There is also food from Central Market and art installations for people to enjoy.

There are two performances in the tents. One is puppet theater and the other is called Saltbush - Children's Cheering Carpet. This is the best show for kids. It isn't just watching. You can be part of it and join in on the fun! It will make you feel happy and connected with nature, Indigenous people, and everyone around you.

The Cheering Carpet is a stage with lights that projects pictures of nature and stories from the past. It was made by Insite Arts, Compagnia TPO, Lou Bennett, Deon Hastie and Delwyn Mannix.

Before entering the tent where the Carpet lives, people must take off their shoes. People sit in the dark on big benches and they can hear birds singing. The carpet starts to move and change like it is telling a story through art. It becomes a river with two dancers splashing in it, then a giant turtle, then lots of stars in the night sky. The children are asked to go onto the carpet too and pretend to be emus or kangaroos or hide under stars. Everyone has lots of fun watching this!

This interactive kids' performance is really good. It's the best you can get and people would give it five stars out of five.

SUPERMASSIVE Music Festival is happening at Vic Square on February 25th from 11am to 8pm. There will be lots of performers, like SARAH BLASKO and FRENTE. There will also be a 13 year old Australian slam poet champion named SOLLI RAPHAEL and DJ TR!P. Kids can explore the GROUNDED site for 8 hours and have fun at lots of installations, arts workshops, entertainment and more.