If you have been following us on social media (and seriously, you should!) then you will have heard us talking about The Big Freeze Festival.

The Big Freeze Festival is being held from 2-10 July 2016 at the Cranbourne Racecourse in Melbourne and we were lucky enough to be invited to the launch! We are happy to report that there is so much to do, that until the end of the week, your family can enjoy hours of fun at the festival.

As soon as we arrived, we walked through a snow forest, caught bubble snow on our hands, had a jump in the giant snow globe and made a new friend who was hiding in amongst the fir trees!

We spent time playing with picture stones around the campfire and then enjoyed the Castle and Cubby village where children (and parents) can let their imagination run wild in the Milk Bar, Farmer’s Market, Jail, Café, Post Office and Fire Station.

You can even win the Farmer’s Market cubby by entering HERE:

After sipping on some hot Ribena (YUM!) and devouring a plate of Dutch pancakes, the kids fine-tuned their aim throwing rice bags into buckets before trading their coupon in for a bucket of snow. Isaac wasn’t overly fussed about this as his hands got cold (and he refused to wear the gloves) but Alegría has a strong arm and threw the snowballs like no-one’s business! The guy helping was great fun and great with the kids as well!

Of course, the main attraction was the snow! Snow pit sessions begin every half hour and last for 25 minutes. The sessions are not over crowded so there is plenty of room for fun!

The snow is made onsite, it was amazing to see ice cubes being poured into the machine and snow coming out of the big tubes. Much to the delight of everyone, the snow machine operators shoot the newly made snow into the air – creating a winter wonderland!

Georgina Says – The whole event is undercover so you don’t have to worry about rain or wind!

If that wasn’t enough,  make sure you take a few minutes to learn CPR with St John Ambulance, paint a pet rock or decorate a nesting box with Phillip Island Nature Parks, go up and down the inflatable slide or grab a bite to eat before heading into the building adjacent to the main arena.

There is so much to keep the kids entertained in this area, that you might have a hard time getting them to leave! There is also a family area with couches and baby toys if you need to feed or let little ones crawl around for a while!

Isaac’s favourite thing to do was to play in the Kick Brick Construction Area. The bricks are perfect for building up towers and knocking them down, piling up the wheelbarrow or making a creation. The attendant (and I suspect business owner) was so fun and great with the kids. All we could hear was Isaac’s belly laugh!

Next door to Kick Brick is quite a few Lego stations for older kids and the Little Shredders area allows kids to perfect their snowboarding skills and posture! Snowboarding is in the kids blood so they had a great time here and have perfect balance!

Of course, there was an appearance by Elsa and Anna from Frozen as well as a variety of acts on the Light FM stage. The fun didn’t stop there, there was also the Clever Patch craft station where children could make rainbows and glittery masks, Super Hero training with the YMCA and a variety of other workshops that ran throughout the day.

The Big Freeze festival is a fun snow experience, without all the fuss of planning a trip to the actual snow. If you have waterproof pants then I would definitely bring them but it’s not too cold so full snow attire isn’t necessary.

Make sure you bring a change of clothes and socks as the kids WILL get wet!

Finally, bring a toy, book or item of clothing that you no longer use and donate it to Mums Supporting Families in Need.

MORE INFORMATION

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit The Big Freeze’s website at www.thebigfreezefestival.com.au

Tickets cost $28 for children aged 2-12 years* or $16.50 for adults, children aged 13+ and toddlers aged 1-2 years who will be entering the snow play zone.

Guess what? *Every children’s (2-12 years) ticket includes a four park pass to Phillip Island Nature Parks (Penguin Parade, Antarctic Journey, Koala Conservation Centre and Churchill Island Heritage Farm) valid until 25 December 2016.

Make sure you follow The Big Freeze on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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