» OVERVIEW
From the Executive Officer
Welcome to YOH Fest!
Along with being an annual showcase of some of Western Australia’s greatest youth talent, YOH Fest is a platform where young people can express their views on the health issues that are relevant to them, and we are very proud to be able to provide this opportunity for the young people of Western Australia once again in 2011.
I trust that your journey with us, whether as a participant, teacher, sponsor or audience member, will be one to remember.
Happy YOH Fest’ing!
Rhys Williams
Executive Officer
What is YOH Fest?
YOH Fest is Western Australia’s biggest youth performing arts event, gives thousands of high school students throughout the State the opportunity to take part in a revolutionary approach to health education. The annual multi arts event requires high school students to get together to construct and perform their own dance sequence, drama play, visual art piece or short film on a relevant youth health theme.
Thousands of young people from high schools right across Western Australia take part in YOH Fest each year in some of the state’s best regional and metropolitan venues.
YOH Fest is as unique as they come, being the only festival of its kind in Australia. It’s organized, managed and run completely by young people for young people, from the director and event coordinators, to the volunteers.
The Festival is recognized by Healthway as WA’s leading forum for youth health education through the arts. The key objective of YOH Fest is to educate and empower young people throughout the State to enable them to make positive and healthy life choices. Participating students gain a sense of energy and liveliness, leadership skills, self-confidence and respect for each other, as well as an understanding of relevant youth issues.
YOH Fest’s key goal is to educate and empower young people throughout WA to make positive and healthy life choices, for themselves and for a better WA society. We like YOH Fest’s side effects too: sensitive leadership skills, acute self-confidence, a healthy respect for peers, and all-round well being.
Humble Beginnings
From its humble beginnings as a local Mandurah gig, with 10 schools participating at Mandurah High School in 1998 - YOH Fest has grown … and grown. In 2011 YOH Fest attracted 250 entries with more than 2000 active student participants. Today, YOH Fest has peer audiences of 50 000 WA pupils between the ages of 6 and 17, provides health curriculum assistance to 150 teachers and is shared with audiences of over 5 000. That’s BIG!
Not only has YOH Fest achieved grown in terms of the numbers of youth that it reaches, but also in terms of its geographical reach. From its original Mandurah base, YOH Fest has spread in recent years to have festivals in Perth, Broome, Port Hedland, Kalgoorlie and Albany.
Past Themes
YOH Fest gives young people the opportunity to get on stage and be heard! Each year a relevant youth health issue is chosen as the YOH Fest theme, and participants have the chance to get on stage and show off their talents, and educate themselves, audience members and the wider community about the challenges faced by young people in today’s world.
Previous topics include youth obesity, bullying, drug and alcohol abuse, sexually transmitted infections, youth suicide and more. The health focus art-platform is unique to YOH Fest. It gives participants the opportunity to learn in a fun, safe and secure environment. Who knew that health education could be so much fun!
