‘Smile, connect and celebrate’ – it’s the tagline for a festival that if the success of last year’s inaugural event is anything to go by, it is sure to tick all those boxes and more.
Created as a space for Sunshine Coast teenagers and their families to connect with a safe and nurturing local community, Nurture Festival will take place on the banks of Lake Kawana on Saturday, May 6.
It will feature live music performances from acclaimed artists, as well as workshops, activities and engaging speakers from various community support groups.
The idea behind Nurture Festival began as an initiative of endED’s Mark Forbes and Nathan Taylor, from Comunite’z, in response to the devastating mental health statistics surrounding young people nationally and the need for them to be connected to appropriate support services.
Alarmingly, rates of suicide on the Sunshine Coast are higher than the national average, according to the Alliance for Suicide Prevention – Sunshine Coast.
In addition to this, research by the National Eating Disorders Collaboration shows eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of all mental illnesses.
There has been a 60 per cent increase in restrictive eating and a 30 per cent increase in binge eating since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The idea came up as I was having a beer with Nathan at Moffat Beach,” Mr Forbes said.
“There are 360 charities on the Coast and when we started endED (a charity that provides tools and support for those impacted by eating disorders) seven years ago, we realised the community needs to work together to ensure the best outcome for the person needing support.
“It’s not just one organisation like ours saying we have all the answers.
“I said to Nathan, ‘We work with a lot of organisations on the Coast, it’s a shame we can’t connect on a better level’ and he suggested we have a festival.
“That’s how it all began, really.”
Aimed at teenagers aged between 12 and 18, the unique festival is designed to offer young people the tools and resources to equip them for mental health and wellbeing challenges, while enjoying a day of music and activities.
“We are encouraging people to bring along the family or come with a group of friends and enjoy top artists such as Hatchie, Doolie, Mayah, Tony Hobart, Greatest Hits, Emma Beau and Yazmindi, participate in workshops or activities such as skateboard art, yoga, taking to the lake outrigging, drone-racing competitions, silent theatre with headphones provided and visit our Speakers’ Corner that will have a full program of engaging presenters,” Mr Forbes said.
“Nurture Festival holds the powerful potential to save a young person’s life by providing a unique and direct connection and pathway to the support they need on their mental health journey. Not only bringing our kids together, this event also recognises how important it is to include parents and carers into the conversation.”
In supporting parents with loved ones going through the eating disorder journey, Mr Forbes said he knows first-hand how much time is spent researching to find the right connections and organisations for support, and Nurture Festival aims to reduce that stress for parents and carers.
“We went through that as the parents of two daughters with eating disorders,” he said.
“You realise how much time and energy and stress and depression can come from finding the right resources.
“If you can get those community groups together in one space, it takes away all the research pressure.
“Parents and carers can walk in and find everything they have been looking for under one roof, and teenagers who are reluctant to reach out can do so in a safe environment.”
Seeing community groups come together to help each other deliver the best support for their clients is another benefit of the festival. Mr Forbes said that had been humbling to watch.
“What I noticed last year was community organisations setting up beside each other and discovering each other for the first time,” he said.
“Through our charity, I had known them for years and yet here they are exchanging contacts and saying, ‘I think the person I know will benefit from meeting you’.
“That was just on bump-in day, and I stood back and thought to myself, ‘This is working already’. It was humbling and exciting to see it all come together.”
Key headline act and Sunshine Coast singer-songwriter Mayah will be performing for the second year in a row.
Mayah is a pop and rock artist with more than 500,000 streams on Spotify.
One of her latest songs, Loved & Lost, is a beautiful exploration of grief and has more than 90,000 views on YouTube.
The 21-year-old is also a strong advocate for mental, emotional and social wellbeing, and her music reflects those values.
“Nurture Festival is so much fun and there are heaps of opportunities to hear awesome live music, but it is also about connecting like-minded people and raising awareness for key mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing challenges that can face teenagers,” Mayah said.
“It’s a welcoming and safe space where kids can just be themselves in a fun, judgment-free and expressive way.
“Music is such a transformative way to bring people together and we are hoping that people will walk away from the day feeling empowered and well supported.”
Also taking to the stage in the Speakers’ Corner is Mayah’s mum Karen Clarke, who is an author, transformational mindset coach and director of Simply for Success Pty Ltd.
Ms Clarke is passionate about helping people experience sustainable behavioural change and works closely with a local not-for-profit organisation supporting individuals and families
in crisis.
“The Sunshine Coast is full of very powerfully proactive mental health and wellness individuals and organisations,” Ms Clarke said.
“It seems to the be the place where healing comes together.
“You can only do so much as an individual, so it was great to find a collective. It’s right up my alley.
“Nurture Festival has such a lovely optimistic, energised feel. I loved how the seed of an idea could produce the level of enthusiasm and engagement and support I witnessed at the event last year.
“It was really heartwarming to see how the sponsors, local MPs and community members who could do something did do something.
“It was seeing how they came together and how willing they were to jump in that was my biggest takeaway.”
Mayah and Ms Clarke have teamed up to share their knowledge and experience on various topics related to family dynamics, finding your voice, effective communication and being heard.
The duo’s topics of discussion include bullying, social media, relationships, empathy and self-awareness and self-care.
The mother-daughter team will be presenting in the Speakers’ Corner alongside a program of guests, including Jenna with the Pink – a body positivity advocate with a one million-strong following on TikTok, songwriter Aspy Jones, rock band The Atomic Beau Project and endED.
“Apart from being mother and daughter, there is so much synchronicity between myself and Mayah,” Ms Clarke says.
“Mayah’s music is generally a message about adversity and growth and triumph over tragedy.
“We both channel the same message, really. It’s just the modality that is different. Mayah’s is music and mine is words and books.”
This year, the festival has fostered partnerships with eight local schools and 25 community groups, which will be attending on the day and hopefully attracting an anticipated 2000 people.
“It is our wish that we reach out to as many young people as possible to let them know that despite the problems that they might be experiencing, either at home or school, they are not alone and that there are lots of places to turn in a time of need,” Mr Forbes said.
“This event might just be the place to find that new best friend, create long-lasting memories or connect more closely with your family.”
Event details
Nurture Festival is an entertainment-packed, drug- and alcohol-free safe space for festival-goers and their families on the banks of Lake Kawana. It features an array of expert speakers and interactive activities. Tickets are $19 for general admission, plus special offers for families and bigger groups. Every Nurture Festival ticket purchased before May 6 automatically places you in a raffle to win a week on K’gari (Fraser Island), staying at Footsteps on Fraser, valued at $5000.The festival will also accommodate people with disabilities through the digital concierge app Cerge.
For more information and to book tickets, visit nurturefestival.com.au.
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