History of the Festival

In the late 1970's, an application was made to the Queensland Arts Council to form the 'Acme Sausage Company'. The purpose of this company was to produce and tour children's theatre throughout regional southwest Queensland. The grant was successful and the company formed, becoming so popular that an annual Children's Theatre Week was established in-house at the (then) USQ Performance Centre.

Since that time, over 80 000 children have experienced live theatre and music in the Arts Theatre. Children's Theatre Week became a much-anticipated event on the local calendar and an integral part of the community. In many cases, entire generations of families have seen their first live play at the University. Past productions include:

1992	Alice in Wonderland
1993	Teddy Bears' Picnic
1994	Things That Go Bump in the Night
1995	Fishtales from Farbelow
1996	Pinocchio
	The Land of Shush
1997	The Reluctant Dragon
1998	Aladdin
1999	Grimm Tales
2000	Aesop's Fables
2001	The Arabian Nights
2002	The Arkansaw Bear
2003	The Pied Piper of Hamlin
2004	Androcles and the Lion
	Mozart's Magical Flute
2005	East of the Sun, West of the Moon
	The Land of Shush
2006	Zac the Hero
2007	The Ugly Duckling
	The Twelve Dancing Princesses
	The Wild Swans
	PeeWee the Piccolo
2008	A Midsummer Night's Dream
2009	Spirits in Bare Feet
2010	Captain Pathos and His Army of Imaginary Friends
2011	Ivy Shambitt and the Sound Machine
2012	A Toby Show

In 2004, the Festival grew to incorporate an extra week of live entertainment for children - this week focusing on music.  And again, in 2006, a Visual Arts component was added to include an interactive exhibition especially for children.

In 2007, the Breez Finance Children's Festival was bigger and brighter than before, with an enchanting line-up of live music, theatre and visual arts for children. The ten-day season included multiple performances on each day, drawing a total audience of over 4 000. Weekday performances attracted school groups from across the Darling Downs ranging from day-care centres to high school classes studying Youth Theatre and weekends attracted family groups from across the region.

The 2008 season saw an all-new adaptation (especially for children) of Shakespeare's delightful A Midsummer Night's Dream brought to magical and very bubbly life plus a month-long exhibition, One Metre Eye Height and creative workshops for young gallery-goers.