As a part of Auckland Arts Festival Fantastic Planet, our team at Papaya Stories organised two bespoke parties last weekend in Henderson. The Saturday party was inspired by the sci-fi look and feel of the Fantastic Planet humanoids. We transformed the public space at Falls Bistro car park into the Glow in the Dark teleport, created a fluorescent dance floor with the silent disco grooves for locals to enjoy.
The Sunday party was inspired by the idea of slumber. With PJs being your dress up code, we came up with multiple interactive and play zones that were meant to give a sense of chill. By transforming the container into the Quiet Space we set up the Ashram and Meditation oasis, the Arts & Crafts station where anyone could make the creative patterns out of the chill pill, in our case colourful M&M’s.
Our Ashram and Meditation shoes-off space had a great selection of books and crafts activities. We invited guests to master the yoga poses during the “Yoga Spin” game, or master the practice of mindfulness by sitting down and playing on the drum. And if you entered that chilled space, what stress-free activity would you like to do?
Check out the stress-free zone we did in the Japanese Garden to get inspired.
Adults tend to like the idea of slowing down and mindful practices more than children. Little rascals are full of energy and keen for an adventure even before the bedtime. Therefore our dream vision for the Slumber Party was to create the space where everyone could discover their own ways to unwind. While grown ups made the most of the Fantastic Planet installation and the ashram space, children were invited to take part in the Silent Disco Kids Adventure and release energy at the sumo wrestling ring.
Well…we were not surprised that adults wanted to channel their inner sumo wrestler and join the right.
For the Slumber Party we created a special audio programme for the Silent Disco Kids Adventure. With the help of immersive storytelling we invited little guests to go on the quest to find out what happens with the inner world of the humanoid from the Fantastic Planet. Why does he not move? Is he asleep? hungry? relaxing? Or is it something else?
To answer these questions kids were playing themed games together with their best friend, Sloth, who is known as the master of chill. They had a tickling competition, collected fruits, fed the green monster, build the tallest tower and had a dance competition to cheer the humanoid up.
Going on adventures, big or small, can be very tiring. The best thing you can is to lie down on a comfy bed, hug your favourite toy, read a book or listen to the story, and watch the night sky. To fulfil this wish we had a bedtime zone with Amazon Jungle Teepees, created by an amazing sleepover party company.
The Slumber Party was created and organised by Papaya Stories creative events and wellbeing company in Henderson on Sunday 27 March 2022. It was held as a part of Auckland Arts Festival Fantastic Planet and was a free community event thanks to the support of Panuku Development.
Awesome event photography by Katherine Brook.
