Poorneet (Tadpole) Festival

PRELUDE

• Drop-in plant dyeing with NECCHI artist Ria Soemardjo (free) | FRI 22 Aug | 9.30-11.30am

This free drop-in event is at NECCHI NEWLANDS garden to learn about simple solar dyeing with plants and food scraps. Ria will be making small flags for the upcoming NECCHi Garden Festival in September celebrating the Wurundjeri season of Poorneet (Tadpoles). No booking required.

FRI 5 SEPTEMBER

• Seed inspired papier-mâché vessels with Lizette Vieyra

Tickets coming soon.

SAT 6 SEPTEMBER

• Birds of the Merri Creek in Poorneet Season | 9.30am-12:30pm

Come and join a family friendly birding walk along the Merri Creek with Merri Creek Management Committee's Ann & Karen McGregor and Arimbi Winoto from Friends of Merri Creek.

• Bushfoods with Aunty Jo Russell | 10am-12pm

Join Aunty Jo Russell to learn about the rich history and use of native Australian plants, offering a deeper understanding of how these plants have sustained and nurtured Indigenous communities for thousands of years.

• Fluid Body, Fluid World with Live Particle (free) | 10.45am-12pm

Families, you are invited to drop-in for moving, playing and making with Live Particle. Learn about water creatures like tadpoles (poorneets), watery worlds and how you too have a body of water. Move and make images, sculptures and installations with one another, art materials and objects.  No experience necessary – all welcome! No bookings required.

• Free Garden Picnic with music | 12-3pm

BYO picnic food and drinks, rugs and friends! With a special performance by Waiata Māori Choir. Seasonal skin art by Angela Foley from Merri Creek Management Committee. Readings by artist Vanessa Chapple to launch the 'Learning on Country' library. Bakesale to raise money for Palestine. Soup from Brewlands. Low cost veggie and indigenous seedlings from Rainmoth Community Nursery. 

• Frogs of the Merri Merri in Poorneet season | 5-6.45pm

Join MCMC for a evening to learn more about the Frogs of Merri Creek and become familiar with local frog calls.

A presentation on the Frogs of Merri Creek will be followed by a walk to the nearby Merri and Edgar's Creek Wetlands.

At the wetland we will listen for frog calls and make a frog call recording.

Please wear closed, flat footwear, long pants and warm clothes. Bring a torch for the return walk.

SUN 14 SEPTEMBER

• Water Smart Gardening with Sustainable Gardening Australia

Last summer was hot and long! Let's learn how to manage water well for a productive garden. We will hear about smart design, garden zones, plant selection, dry climate plants, the crucial role of soil, different types of mulch, spreading rainfall across all areas of your garden, capture and storage of rain water, grey water, irrigation, water smart technologies.

Tickets coming soon.
Water Smart Gardening

FRI 17 OCTOBER

• Cuttings and Propagating Indigenous Plants | Time TBC

Learn how to propagate indigenous plants in the NECCHi Newlands garden with Laurel from Nangak Tamboree Nursery (La Trobe University). She will demonstrate various plant propagation techniques and discuss resources, treatments and tips to help you propagate plants in your own garden. Participants will also have the opportunity ask questions and get involved with some hands on seed sorting and cutting propagation. 

Nurseries that specialise in indigenous plants are currently working to capacity to meet huge demand. Propagating these plants is a great skill to have to help increase local habitat!

Tickets coming soon.

We respectfully acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people of the Kulin Nation as the traditional owners of the land on which the festival is held. We acknowledge that they have never ceded sovereignty and remain strong in their enduring connection to Country and culture. 

TICKETS

Please use the code SOLIDARITY for flexibly priced Solidarity Admission: First Nations People, People from refugee backgrounds, unwaged, concession

Please use the code CHILD for free tickets for children under 12 year old. All children must be accompanied by an adult with a ticket. 

Please email programs@necchi.org if any questions about tickets.