They wanna rock

By Melissa Meehan
PAKENHAM, are you ready to rock?
As part of National Youth Week 2010, the town will be ready to rock out on Saturday at PB Ronald Reserve with a band of activities.
Young people are being urged to ‘Live it Now’ at this year’s Pakenham Youth Fest which features a skate, scooter and BMX competition, talent showcase and art exhibition.
National Youth Week Committee member Paige Spinks said the celebration was a positive fun event that recognised young people’s contribution to the community.
“This is a fantastic opportunity to see the skating and artistic flair of young residents,” she said.
“It will be a fun-filled day, so I encourage young people of the shire to get along and get involved.”
Cardinia Shire youth participation and access officer Linda Randall, who has been overseeing the project, said the committee was made up of young people from across the shire aged between 14 and 21.
“It’s really good, they were the ones who came up with the ideas themselves, I just helped out with the council things – organising permits and all that kind of stuff,” Ms Randall said.
“They were asked what they would want in a festival and went from there, they even looked at what had worked in the past and other things like that.”
Ms Randall said the group, made up from kids from Kooweerup, Pakenham and Beaconsfield applied for a position on the committee and met weekly to ensure everything went smoothly.
“They have really been hands-on,” she said.
“It’s something they want to do – and they’ve done really well.”
She said the committee was able to advertise the day via Facebook and around their schools and hoped for a large turnout.
“I think it will be a great day and all their hard work will pay off.”
Pakenham Youth Fest 2010 this Saturday is a free event from 12–5pm and will also feature rides, a free barbecue, Cardinia Council’s MYBus, DJ Lako and local band The Take Off. Registrations for the skate, scooter and BMX comp can be submitted prior to the event, with registrations also being open from 9:30am–10am on the day.
National Youth Week is supported by the state and federal governments and beyondblue: the national depression initiative.
For further information or to get involved contact youth services on 1300 787 624 or alternatively go to www.cardinia.vic.gov.au/youth.