Inaugural Youth Arts Festival

This year marked our inaugural Youth Arts Festival, held in April 2023 at the Manning Entertainment Centre, where we collaborated with some fantastic local organisations and community groups.

Our vision was to create an event that presented opportunities for emerging young artists and performers to explore, develop and showcase their talent and perform in front of a live audience.

The festival included workshops, stalls, art, music, free food and fun, and was free for 12-24 year olds to attend.

Our sincere thanks and praise to these wonderful organisations & businesses that helped make the day a resounding success:

Major Sponsors & Contributors

  • Twin Petes (for this fantastic video and other footage from the day!)

  • MidCoast Council, including their ACE Team

  • Headspace Taree, with special thanks to their Youth Reference Group

  • Valley Industries

  • Circartus

  • MidCoast Community Theatre

  • PCYC

  • Our TUC members who brought all the energy and enthusiasm together on the day!

Other Sponsors & Contributors

  • Mid North Coast Community College

  • Manning Regional Art Gallery

  • Catholic Care Services Hunter & Manning

  • Manning Valley Neighbourhood Services

  • 54 Reasons (Save the Children)


Back in April we had the pleasure of hosting this remarkable day when hordes of young-uns filled the MEC for the Youth Arts Festival and immersed themselves in various aspects of performing arts. It was hugely inspiring to see local young adults challenging themselves and producing some truly wonderful work. Hearty congratulations to Taree Universities Campus and all who contributed to making it such a special event for so many. We hope you’ll return to us next year!!
— Manning Entertainment Centre

In the news:

Thanks to Prime 7 News for covering our successful day.


This event was funded by:

Youth Opportunities Program NSW Government • NSW Youth Week • NSW Government Disaster Recovery Funding • Department of Communities & Justice