The Kids Summer Festival program runs daily from Saturday 11 to Friday 17 January 2025, from 11am to 4pm. Both galleries are open everyday from 10am to 5pm.

Kids Summer Festival is held across both NGV venues:

• The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia at Fed Square
• NGV International, 180 St Kilda Road, Melbourne

For information on getting here, see our Plan Your Visit webpage.

Explore the program to see what is on at each venue at Kids Summer Festival.

The Kids Summer Festival program is free, and no tickets are required, except for the Relaxed Sessions. Relaxed Sessions at NGV offer a quieter experience for people with disability or neurodiversity.

Find Relaxed Sessions

If you would like to visit the Cats & Dogs or Yayoi Kusama exhibitions, you will need to purchase a ticket.

For one day only of Kids Summer Festival (11 January) there is a special offer on tickets for the Cats & Dogs exhibition and kids go free.

You can buy tickets:

• online via the Cats & Dogs or Yayoi Kusama exhibition webpages
• over the phone by calling (03) 8620 2222 between 9am and 5pm daily
• or in-person at the gallery ticket desks

The exhibitions and all public areas in the NGV, including hospitality outlets and NGV design store, are fully wheelchair and pram accessible.

In busy areas there are designated pram parking spaces. Please take any valuables with you.

Wheelchairs and motorised scooters are available for free hire from the information desk. We recommend booking a wheelchair or scooter prior to your visit by calling (03) 8620 2222 or making a booking online.

At both venues, any large bags that are not stored underneath wheelchairs or prams will need to be cloaked. There is a cloakroom at both venues and the cloaking service is free. Items must be collected before 5pm.

Baby change facilities are available on ground level at both venues. At NGV International, a dedicated parents’ room provides a quiet space for families, plus a private feeding space and a microwave. Breastfeeding is welcome wherever you feel comfortable.

Accessible and gender-neutral bathrooms are available at both venues.

A Changing Places bathroom is located nearby at Arts Centre Melbourne’s Hamer Hall, approximately 300 metres from NGV International. Visit the Arts Centre Melbourne website for more information.

Activities at NGV Australia will be held in the Theatre on Ground Level, and foyer spaces on the Ground Level and Third Level foyers.

For the NGV Kids Summer Festival Launch Day, activities will be held in the Fed Square Atrium and on the main stage. Visit the Fed Square Access page for more information.

Activities at NGV International will be held in the Great Hall, with the exception of Friday 17 January when they will be held in the gallery spaces on Level 2.

The Great Hall is a very large room with carpet and a stained-glass ceiling. Suspended from the ceiling are very large yellow and black inflatable balls.

The Great Hall and NGV Garden are great places for children to roam, relax, stretch their legs or lie back and gaze at the stained-glass ceiling.

 The Great Hall is often busy and noisy. If you are needing a lower-sensory area, we recommend the nearby NGV Garden, located just outside the Great Hall.

Family-friendly food options are available for purchase at Gallery Kitchen, the Tea Room or at a coffee cart in Great Hall at NGV International, and at the NGV Cafe in the Fed Square Atrium. You are welcome to bring food from home and eat in the Great Hall or Garden.

Free water stations are available in Gallery Kitchen (under the escalators) at NGV International, and outside the Fed Square Atrium on Flinders Street.

Please note that food and drinks can’t be taken into the exhibition spaces or onto the Dancing Pumpkin plinth.

Relaxed Sessions are an opportunity for visitors who may benefit from a quieter Gallery experience to access NGV exhibitions with fewer people and reduced sensory stimuli. This may include people with autism, disability, or chronic illness conditions. All ages are welcome.

Two free Relaxed Sessions will be offered during Kids Summer Festival for the children’s exhibition, Kusama for Kids.

Accredited assistance dogs are welcome at the NGV. Please ensure your assistance dog is wearing their jacket while at the Gallery.

Access aids, including earplugs, magnifying sheets and self-regulation fidget devices, are available for free hire from the information desk. We recommend booking prior to your visit, by calling (03) 8620 2222 or making a booking online.

For access information about the exhibitions, visit the Cats & Dogs or Yayoi Kusama exhibition webpages.

• Early childhood specialists recommend keeping visits short. When planning your visit, select a time in the day that best suits the child and their energy levels.
• You could treat the visit to the Gallery like a walk in the park. Explore the different spaces and discover different artworks along the way. Let your child take the lead!
• Give your child the camera and ask them to take photos of what interests them. After your visit you can review the images together.
• Look for aspects of the artworks that relate to your child’s everyday life and talk about them together. For example, compare a domestic scene to their space at home.
• Look for the children’s artwork labels and read them together.
• Ask open-ended questions about the art, such as ‘What is happening in this picture?’
• After your visit, ask your child questions about their experience at the Gallery.
• Provide pencils or crayons at home so that your child can draw their experience.

Visit our dedicated Access webpage for more resources and information about accessible facilities and services at the NGV.

For further enquiries about how the Gallery can support your access requirements, please contact our team.

ngvenquiries@ngv.vic.gov.au

(03) 8620 2222

9am–5pm, daily