Get excited: The Festival of FUN's Wollongong debut is locked in

Three years since its creation by local legend David (Macca) McFarland, a major event is set to debut in Wollongong, promising to pull all community members together to celebrate inclusion, diversity and most of all, fun.

The Festival of FUN 2025 takes place in February, packing WIN Stadium with entertainment, activities, games, sports and a mini business expo that culminates in a fun singalong concert, all aimed at celebrating everything people with disability are capable of, and the contributions they, their families and carers make in their communities.

Macca, who has volunteered in the disability space for over 30 years, says it’s also about pulling down barriers.

“My years of volunteering have made me more aware of what it’s like for a person with disability to experience the world. I started to see that whether you’re getting a haircut, going to a bar with mates or shopping, these places we take for granted every day mostly aren’t geared towards people with disability,” he says.

“There are so many individuals, businesses, groups and organisations doing amazing things in this space, but they’re on their own. The festival brings them all together and that makes the wheel turn faster for people with disability, their families and carers.”

The day kicks off at 10 am with the Just Better Care “Try Me” sports arena. A buzzing arena of music and fun, it incorporates everything from gentle movement and music activities to more active sports including disability AFL and rugby and wheelchair basketball.

Over two and a half hours visitors will watch professional sportspeople from a range of national league teams, Paralympians and Olympians showcase what our elite athletes with disability are made of before the public is invited to have a go.

“Not everyone will be able to do everything, but there will be something for everyone, no matter what type of disability people have,” Macca says.

“We want people with disability to know all the sports that are out there for them, and if there’s a barrier for them pursuing that, to know how we, through our partners, can help break it down.”

Throughout the day there will be a range of other activities, demonstrations and games for all ages such as a petting zoo that includes animals with disability. Among the roving entertainers and performers will be the festival’s mascot – a micro donkey named Kindness, because (wait for it) … everyone needs a “little” kindness.

There will also be a business expo offering stalls for as little as $250.

“We’re imploring all businesses in Illawarra looking to widen their exposure to new audiences, to be a part of this expo. It will become an excellent networking opportunity because I make it my mission to get people in front of the decision-makers of other companies, so we can work together to do more for people with disability,” Macca says.

“I have had businesses who have grown a thousand per cent – literally – since they participated in the first Festival of FUN.”

The event culminates in a big singalong concert featuring an impressive lineup of national performers and local legends, followed by a talent quest to find the region’s greatest talents with disability.

Macca says this is the part nobody should miss.

“It’s always one of my favourite parts of the festival. Bands and singers with or without disability come together and not only is it the best entertainment going around, but to look out at a sea of kids and adults with disability smiling and dancing, there are no words to describe it, except maybe ‘life-changing’,” he says.

“We use this event to show other festivals the spectrum of things they can do to make their events more inclusive for people with disability.”

Macca, a director at ARHG Foundation, which has organised the Festival of FUN in the Gold Coast for two years, says the ultimate goal is for it to become a national event staged on the same day across Australia.

It’s a desire shared by Wollongong’s own six-time Paralympian and men’s wheelchair basketball captain, and Festival of FUN ambassador Tristan Knowles.

“There are festivals in Australia all the time and it often feels the inclusion of people with disability is a bit of an afterthought. That’s a vast improvement to the way things were 20 years ago when people with disability were not given a thought. This festival is quite incredible in that sense,” he says.

“I would love to see this event progress to being national; where in venues across the country it’s packed out with people with disability and without, because I know people without disability are curious as to what role they can play in making our community truly inclusive.

“A lot of the people I meet, it’s the first time they’ve met an amputee or person with disability. Wouldn’t it be cool if everyone was able to say they knew multiple people with disability? Events like these and the Paralympics are the kinds of events that help break down those barriers. The fact that it’s headed to the Illawarra, I’m so excited.”

Taking place on Saturday 22 February at WIN Stadium, the Festival of FUN 2025 is still searching for a naming rights major sponsor and has spaces available in its business expo starting at $250 – email [email protected] to enquire.