Free Festival Workshops

Blackwood Dragon Board Paddle School – Have a Go

Are you ready to rally the troops and create a championship-winning team? Do you want to mix the intensity of SUP racing with the camaraderie of team spirit?

The four-person Dragon can reach an incredible rate of knots! Come along and try one of these awesome boards. Register for one our free workshop experiences via Humanitix.com

We have Nicki Jones from Perth Stand Up Paddle School generously supplying equipment and professional instruction. Learn how to master one of these giants!

The warmup workshops with professional instructors are free to participants. If you want to progress your skills and register your team of 4 to enter the Ultimate Blackwood Dragon Board Championship a $20 team registration fee will benefit Sea Search and Rescue. You will have heaps of fun and win some great prizes!

Please note the number of team for the races are limited so get your team together and get your name down! We recommend the experiences for kids over the age of 10 and they should be able to swim 20 metres confidently.

Register Here

Concrete Sk8 Club

The amazing Jacque Ashworth from the Concrete Club in Margs will convert the River mouth carpark into Festival Skate Zone, complete with ramps and outdoor roller disco. A crew of skate coaches will present a series of clinics and workshops for both skate board and roller skate enthusiasts – no matter your skill level there will be a workshop for you. Local skate boarders will showcase their skills during a demo session from 2 – 3 pm. The Concrete Club will provide all equipment including, ramps, roller skates, some skate boards, and safety equipment. We encourage participants to use their own equipment where possible. Adjacent to Festival Skate Zone the Concrete Club will facilitate a screen printing station, where you can bring your own shirt, hat, socks or even skate deck, whatever you like to print on from their selection of awesome skate inspired designs. Festival T-shirts will also be on sale for printing at the Festival information tent.

Register Here

Fuel to Go and Play with Augusta Primary School P&C

Our 2023 Festival is all about healthy living and participation!
A feature of the event will be the Fuel to Go & Play Marquee offering free Bliss Ball and Smoothie demonstrations hosted by our own Augusta Primary School P&C Canteen Crew.
Get involved by registering for your free workshop and head to the Fuel to Go & Play Marquee on the day.

Roll Your Own Bliss Balls

Learn how easy it is to create this powerhouse snack!

Add healthy delights to you lunchbox.

Free recipes, Free ingredients and Free tastings!

10.30 am & 2.30 pm

Register Here

Blend your Own Smoothies

Give new life to your favourite fruits and vegetables. Full of nutrients and flavour, smoothies provide protein, subdue food cravings and offer a great alternative to junk food!

Free recipes, Free ingredients and Free tastings!

11.30 am and 12.30 pm

Register Here

Junkadelic Drum Making & Percussion Workshops

This workshop is aimed at people of all ages and is geared towards providing an insight into the history of popular music with a rhythmic trip to where it all began :- New Orleans!

Junkadelic provide an authentic New Orleans Brass Band sound whilst explaining the basics to rhythms that make it so funky! Come early to make your own junk percussion instrument – that you get to keep! Then join in the Festival Lantern Parade with Junkadelic due to kick off from around 7 pm.

Register Here

The Margaret River Circus School joins the River Fest!

Join the talented teachers from Margaret River Circus School and delve into all things circus! From juggling and tumbling to Hula hoops and cartwheels, there will be something for everyone and all ages!
Come one, come all, there might be a clown in you after all!!

Those who attend the first workshop of the day will star in a cameo in the Circus Stage Show later in the day!

Book your free 1 hours workshop session:

10.00 am – Followed by Stage show 12.00 noon
2.00 pm

Look for the star mat on the River Foreshore.

An indemnity form will need to be signed by all participants.

About MRCS

Margaret River Circus School was founded in 2019 in an old shed in Karridale. Four years later it has four teachers, 8 classes and over 90 students! With classes catering from toddlers through to teens, there’s plenty of fun to be had. As well as our beginner classes we have a few special higher skilled classes for our more advanced students, catering for everyone. Those that love performing get streamed into our Performance Troupe who take things to the next level, performing around the region and in the Margaret River Circus School shows twice a year.

More about your instructors….
Growing up in Mexico, Veronica was doing flips as soon as she could walk. Whether it was gymnastics or cheerleading, she was always up in the air. After finishing her studies and falling in love with Aerial Silks Veronica came to Australia and began teaching before eventually teaming up with Casey to found Karridale Circus Arts (now Margaret River Circus School).
Casey Wood grew up locally in Margaret River and spent all her time upside down at the Lunar Circus before going on to train around Australia and overseas. After a 2 year stint at a renowned circus school in France, Casey returned to her hometown of Margs where she met Vero, and the circus school was born!

Register Here

Possum Box Workshops at Possum Corner with Tania Davey

This year at the Augusta River Festival community members will be invited to work collaboratively on a series of possum boxes which have been constructed by our local men’s shed.

Workshops held throughout the day in a newly created Possum Corner will guide participants through four creative decorative processes. Classes will be taught in mosaic, paint, print and construction.

The outcomes will be a spectacular set of wild and wonderful possum homes to be placed in the trees around Augusta. The completed boxes will be available for sale through the Festival to benefit Wildlife Carers and the Augusta Men’s Shed.

There will be Q&As with wildlife carers and organisations and the Corner will be visited by Wadandi Cultural Custodian Zac Webb. Other all-day activities focussed on education about our Western Ringtail Possums will be on offer.

Our Artist In Residence

We welcome back local artist Tania Davey who works with children and community groups creating artworks with an environmental message. She loves to develop projects which educate participants about local species and landscapes. She hopes these works will inspire local stewardship and protection for the natural wonders of the cape-to-cape region.

Register Here

Cultural Walk with Zac Webb from Undalup

Zac Webb is a Wadandi-Pibulmun cultural custodian from the Noongar nation, an Aboriginal region spanning southwestern Australia along the Great Southern Reef near Margaret River, and one of the last speakers of their native language. As custodians of their country, the Noongar people have a continuous cultural, physical and spiritual relationship with the land and sea. Having been taught by his family who have continuously lived on Wadandi Boodja for generations, he has a wealth of knowledge of his people’s culture.

Join Zac for an informative cultural walk along the Blackwood River foreshore commencing from 10 am for 90 minutes. Please meet at the Information stall, adjacent to main stage.

Register Here

Drey Building Workshop

Learn how to make a drey (possum home) for a critically endangered Western Ringtail Possum. Book your whole family in and take home a drey to install in your backyard, providing vital habitat for this iconic species.

12.30 pm

Children must attend with a parent.

This project is delivered by Nature Conservation through funding from the Australian Government in partnership with the South West Catchments Council and The Shire of Augusta Margaret River through the Environmental Management Fund.

Register Here

Night Stalk – Friday 3^rd March 7:30pm

Join Nature Conservation western ringtail possum officer Lauren Scanlon and Augusta local and nature guru Jenny Kikkeros for a guided Western Ringtail Possum stalk through the forest along the Wadandi Trail in Augusta. Learn about these critically endangered animals and how what you do at home, can help secure their future in this region.

All participants are advised to bring warm clothing, a torch, water bottle and enclosed footwear. Children must attend with a parent.

Meeting point will be opposite the Rails to Trails Information Station, Davies Road, Flinders Bay.

This project is delivered by Nature Conservation through funding from the Australian Government in partnership with the South West Catchments Council and The Shire of Augusta Margaret River through the Environmental Management Fund.

Register Here