Join us at Winterfest 2023!
Winterfest is here to make your winter holidays… a festival.
Calling all knights and princesses, kings and queens to this year’s Winterfest. Join this 4 day adventure filled with workshops, games, crafts, singing, a drama and would you believe it – there’s heaps more. All as we hear about King Jesus and his Kingdom.
Who: Pre-Primary to Year 5
When: 4th – 7th July, from 9:00am – 12:30pm
Where: North Coast Church, Balcatta (154 Balcatta Rd, Balcatta)
Our Mission
We want kids to hear that Jesus is epic and have an epic time doing it
About Us
We are a holiday kids club with a passion for kids, the good news of Jesus and more fun than you can poke a stick at.
Each year about 70 volunteers help put together an epic 4 day kids club. Every year we go all out with a theme, games, workshops and a bunch more. We do all this as we explore Jesus from the bible.
Registration Costs
| Registration Type | Cost | Available Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Earlybird | $55 per child | Ends 12pm, Sunday 21st May |
| Standard | $65 per child | Closes 21st June |
Cost includes entry to all four days of Winterfest, an event t-shirt, morning tea and all craft, games and workshop equipment.
Don’t let finances stop you from coming! Contact us to make alternate arrangements if finances would otherwise prevent you from attending
In registering your child(ren) for Winterfest, you agree that, while all reasonable care will be taken to ensure the safety of your child, you accept the risks associated with all activities. In the case of a medical emergency, you agree to Winterfest staff and volunteers administering appropriate first aid at the discretion of the First Aid Officer, which may include calling an ambulance, for which the parent may be required to take full financial responsibility.
In sending your child(ren) to Winterfest, you agree that photographs and/or video footage may be taken of your child and used for promotional purposes, which may include (but is not limited to) publishing on our website, Facebook page, Instagram feed and during Sunday church services.
A full refund is available on or before Tuesday 21st June 2023. After this date, refunds cannot be offered for any reason, including illness and change of mind.
Register Here
FAQ
Here’s where you can find out all you need to know about Winterfest. Still have questions? Contact us – we’d love to hear from you!
Winterfest begins at 9:00am, with check-in opening at 8:30am. We suggest aiming to get there between 8:30 and 8:45am. Winterfest is held in North Coast Church, which is best accessed from the main entrance on the side. Once you arrive, head to the Registration Desk where our volunteers will check in your kids and give them a name tag. Although the program doesn’t formally begin until 9am, our leaders will be available to greet any kids who arrive early and will help them join in with games and activities! The day finishes at 12:30pm, but children won’t be permitted to leave the auditorium unless they exit with a parent (or other authorised adult), and they will need to “check out” and hand in their name tag as they leave.
Everyone is asked to bring a water bottle (labeled with your name), and one piece of fruit per family, per day. Fruit will be collected when you check in each morning, and your water bottle can be placed in your group’s bucket. Come along in comfy clothes and shoes, and please make sure all items of clothing are labeled with your name. On the first day of Winterfest each child will receive their Team Shirt. We would love your child to wear their shirt each day as it will give them a sense of team identity and belonging, but wearing the Winterfest Shirt isn’t a requirement.
Winterfest is held at North Coast Church in Balcatta. Look out for our signs and parking attendants who will guide you to the correct building.
Winterfest begins with “Together Time”, where all the kids and leaders sit in front of our stage and enjoy singing together, watching a play and hearing a talk. After Together Time, the kids separate into small groups with children of similar age (their small group number will be printed on their name tag). Two leaders will sit with each small group and guide them through some discussion questions related to the drama and talk, and a quick morning tea of fruit, water, crackers and sandwiches. After small groups, the children will rotate through craft, games and workshops. Toward the end of Winterfest, everyone comes back together to wrap up the day. We finish up at 12:30 and show a movie on the big screen until parents come and collect their kids.
Everyday at Winterfest we have a short, 5-10 minute talk based on the Bible, and small group discussions afterwards that answer potential questions and reinforce what was taught during the talk. Although our leaders will encourage children in their care to participate, no child will be forced to answer a question or speak up if they don’t want to. Winterfest is an initiative of North Coast Church. If you’d like to find out more about our church and what we believe, head to our church website.
We love having parents stick around at Winterfest! We work hard to ensure we recruit enough leaders and volunteers to create a safe, well-supervised environment for your child, but we welcome all parents to stay behind in our “Winterfest Cafe” to enjoy a coffee and cake while you watch your kids enjoy Winterfest. We have staff and volunteers from our church available in the cafe to serve you coffee or tea and we’d love you to stick around for a sweet treat on us! Stay as long as you like, or drop your children off and run – it’s completely up to you!
All children are asked to bring a water bottle (labelled with their name). At morning tea, each child will be given plain crackers, fruit and sandwiches (jam and vegemite). Cakes, biscuits and slices are served to parents in our Winterfest Cafe, and all our food suppliers are asked to ensure their food is nut-free. Although we work hard to keep Winterfest a nut-sensitive environment, we can’t guarantee all food will be free of nut traces
We have a qualified first-aid officer on duty at Winterfest who will be available for minor incidents requiring first aid. More serious medical emergencies will be dealt with under the direction of the First Aid Officer, who may call an ambulance if required. Parents will be required to cover any costs incurred, should an ambulance be called.
Winterfest couldn’t run without the generous support of volunteers who give up their time to make Winterfest happen. North Coast Church uses Safe Ministry Check to establish a safeguarding culture including volunteer screening and training. Our leaders, who work closest with the children, also receive training equipping them to teach and lead children in an age-appropriate, engaging and safe way.
We don’t want anyone to miss out on coming to Winterfest. If finances are an issue for you, we’d love you to get in touch. We have funds available to subsidise fees, so if finances are stopping you from being able to register, contact us and let us know what you can pay – we’d be happy to cover the rest!
We do prefer full registrations. The same amount of preparation and expense is needed whether a child attends Winterfest everyday or just one or two days. For this reason, we generally only open registrations to children who will attend Winterfest everyday. (The $65 registration fee gives children entry to Winterfest across all four days). As Winterfest approaches, if we have extra spaces available, we may then open up partial registrations to families who only want to pay for individual days, at a rate of $15 per day. If you have a special circumstance you would like to discuss, or you would like us to make you aware if/when partial registrations become available, please contact us.
f this happens, then we will refund you as much of the registration fee as we can (this will depend on what we would have already purchased and what refunds we receive).
Still have questions? Contact us – we’d love to hear from you!
Volunteer at Winterfest
Winterfest could not happen without all the amazing volunteers who give up their time. Everyone who attends North Coast Church is encouraged to consider serving Jesus at Winterfest.
Creche available for volunteers.
See serving opportunities below
Leaders & junior leaders (year 6+) work very closely with the children and get to know them well over the course of the week. They meet and greet children as they arrive, sit with children during Together Time, sing with children and encourage participation, facilitate small group discussions, assist children during morning tea, games and craft, and talk with parents at the end of the day.
This is a great position for someone with lots of energy, who enjoys working with kids and doesn’t mind looking a little silly!
Leaders need to be available from the 4th-7th July from 8:00am-1:30pm each day, as well as Monday the 3rd July from 9-12:30pm for training and set up (lunch provided).
Craft Volunteers assist the children with their crafts, set up and pack up the craft room and prepare crafts for the next day.
Craft volunteers need to be available from 9:00am – 12:00pm. We will also invite any available craft volunteers to attend a number of “cutting and packing sessions” prior to Winterfest, to prepare craft pieces and activity packs for the children.
You could volunteer for one day or come every day.
Volunteering in the kitchen could include cutting up fruit and making sandwiches for morning tea, serving morning tea to the children, cleaning the kitchen and preparing for the next day. Kitchen volunteers need to be available from 8am-11am.
You could volunteer for one day or come every day.
This role varies depending on whether you serve in the morning or afternoon. In the morning, Registration Volunteers will use our computer check-in system to register children as they arrive. In the afternoon, Registration Volunteers will “check-out” children as they leave.
You will need to be confident using our Online Check-In System (but we will train you first!). Registration Volunteers need to be available either from 8:00-9:30am or 12:00-1:00pm (Please indicate your shift availability in the Volunteer Registration form)
You will also need to attend a training session to learn the check-in process. This will happen at 11am on the 25th June following the 9:30am service. Please pop that in your calendar, thank you!
Hosts sit in our Winterfest Cafe and chat with parents once their kids have checked in. This is a great role for someone who loves meeting people and is passionate about evangelism and inviting people to our church.
Baristas make hot drinks for parents and volunteers.
Both arrive at 8:15 each day and stay for as long as parents choose to stay in the cafe (sometimes just an hour, sometimes right through to 12:30 when the kids go home.)
You could volunteer for one day or come everyday.
Creche Volunteers will supervise children Kindy aged and under, to allow their parents to serve in other ways at Winterfest. There are two creche “shifts” each day: 8:00am-10:30am and 10:30am-1:00pm.
Choose one shift or stay for both! You could volunteer for one day or come every day. (Please indicate your shift availability in the Volunteer Registration form)
First Aid volunteers will be based at our First Aid Station and provide assistance to children who may get injured/unwell. They will also receive any medications/epipens from children as they arrive, be responsible for administering them if needed, and returning them at the end of the day. First Aid volunteers may need to fill in accident/incident report forms or contact parents of unwell children.
First Aid Volunteers need to be available from 8:30am – 1pm. You could volunteer for one day or come every day.
Parking and traffic attendants arrive early to direct cars and foot traffic to the Winterfest location. Attendants arrive at 8:00am for a brief meeting with our Parking Coordinator who will coordinate road sign placement, and ensure each parking attendant volunteer is strategically placed to direct families from the carpark to the building entrance.
Being July, the weather may not be ideal, so parking attendants should be prepared to dress warm, with an umbrella and wet-weather gear.
We require a dropoff team (8-9:30am) and a pickup team (12:30-1:30pm). (Please indicate your shift availability in the Volunteer Registration form)
Cleaners will be responsible for general tidying, quick, emptying of bins and restocking the bathrooms.
Cleaners need to be available from 12:30pm-1:30pm. You could volunteer for one day or come every day.
The Decor team is responsible for making the space feel and look KINGDOM themed. This involves planning and setting up the main Auditorium. It also involves packing up the decor after Winterfest .
Decor member will work closely with the Decor coordinator prior to Winterfest. There is no set time. This is a great place for people to volunteer who can’t be part of Winterfest week.