{"id":303372,"date":"2025-11-23T11:17:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T11:17:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/303372\/"},"modified":"2025-11-23T11:17:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T11:17:14","slug":"final-day-of-wa-day-festival-draws-huge-crowds-to-burswood-park-as-celebrations-end-on-a-vibrant-note","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/303372\/","title":{"rendered":"Final day of WA Day festival draws huge crowds to Burswood Park as celebrations end on a vibrant note"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thousands of West Aussies poured into Burswood Park on Sunday as the WA Day Festival continued its lively two-day celebration, rounding out the weekend with a vibrant note that kept massive crowds smiling.<\/p>\n

Organisers say up to 100,000 people made the most of the free event, that was jam-packed with all things West Australian.<\/p>\n

Future innovators were well catered for in the Hancock Iron Ore Innovation and Education Alley, where hands-on stalls sparked curiosity in eager young minds.<\/p>\n

Over at the Perth Mint exhibit, kids sifted through sand in search of the coveted gold nugget.<\/p>\n

Ameet Narulla and his sons, Gaavan, 7, and Kiaan, 4, were among the eager prospectors.<\/p>\n

After watching the fireworks on Saturday night, the trio returned on Sunday to spend more time exploring the Innovation and Education Alley.<\/p>\n

Mr Narulla said the variety of stalls was \u201cwonderful\u201d.\u201cIt\u2019s fantastic especially the gold sifting because it\u2019s so WA,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"GaavanCamera IconGaavan Narulla, 7, pans for gold at The Perth Mint tent. Credit: Michael Wilson\/The West Australian<\/p>\n

\u201cThe boys have heard a lot about their friends parents working in mining but they haven\u2019t fully understood it, so this helps me have conversations with them about what happens on the mines.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of the activities are practical and knowledgeable and absolutely will inspire them when it comes to choosing a career in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

A real-life RAC rescue helicopter also drew a crowd, parked proudly for festival-goers to clamber inside the cockpit.<\/p>\n

The bravest punters strapped on VR goggles for a heart-thumping simulation of what crews face when the rotor blades fire up during emergencies.<\/p>\n

And with day three of the Ashes washed off the calendar thanks to Australia\u2019s blistering performance on Saturday, cricket diehards wandered across to Burswood Park in search of a different kind of action.<\/p>\n

Among those who were meant to be inside Optus Stadium was Michael Voros and his sons Alexander, 7, and Elliott, 9.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were going to go to the cricket, we were there on Friday and we were looking forward to today,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201c(But) this has been great\u2026 nas good as watching Travis head win the ashes but an excellent next best thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the carnival rides, the classic swings were a runaway favourite, with a queue that barely shrank all day as kids \u2014 and a few nostalgic grown-ups \u2014 lined up for a spin.<\/p>\n

\"SophieCamera IconSophie Corkran, Iris Van Denbergh and Maeleigh Myles are pictured with their Sunday Times front pages. Credit: Michael Wilson\/The West Australian<\/p>\n

Hardwired BMX tore up the arena with their trio of Sunday shows, but it was pint-sized powerhouse Ziggy, just six years old, who sent the crowd into meltdown as he rocketed skyward with a string of gutsy tricks.<\/p>\n

Eight-year-old Mahli had the best seat in the house on his dad\u2019s shoulders.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe tricks are so cool,\u201d he said as the final show wrapped up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to ride my bike like that and do the spins.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"WACamera IconWA Day Festival at Burswood Park. Credit: Michael Wilson\/The West Australian<\/p>\n

Sara Armstead treated daughters Sonny, 3, and Valley, 1, to ice cream after tackling the rides.<\/p>\n

\u201cWA Day is always fun, why wouldn\u2019t we come and celebrate,\u201d Ms Armstead said.<\/p>\n

While families like the Armsteads come every year, others stumbled onto the festivities by chance.<\/p>\n

Rannia and her little sister Victoria, 4, were simply exploring the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe stumbled upon it because we wanted to walk the Optus bridge because we havent done that yet,\u201d Rannia said.<\/p>\n

\"Victoria,Camera IconVictoria, 4, is pictured with one of the Pink Flowers from Fliptease. Credit: Michael Wilson\/The West Australian<\/p>\n

\u201cWe definitely won\u2019t miss it next year, it has been so great to spend time with my family here today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Food lovers drifted toward the Spudshed Stage, where Channel 7\u2019s Jerrie Demasi whipped up a fragrant one-pot Mexican beef, drawing a crowd keen for fresh recipe inspiration.<\/p>\n

Those needing a breather from the sun slipped into the Seven West Media summer lounge, decked out with comfy chairs and a giant screen rolling replays of the Ashes, Telethon highlights and beloved Aussie soaps.<\/p>\n

Channel 7 personalities \u2014 including weather icon Samantha Jolly \u2014 swung by for photos and friendly chats throughout the afternoon.<\/p>\n

And when hunger inevitably set in, festival staples came to the rescue.<\/p>\n

Crowds lined up for chips on a stick, gozleme, American-style fair treats and the trusty sausage sizzle.<\/p>\n

Despite the wind packing a punch, festival-goers soldiered on \u2014 just as Premier Roger Cook predicted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hoping that the weather gods are a little bit kinder to us,\u201d he said on Sunday morning.<\/p>\n

\"IsabelleCamera IconIsabelle Fraser, 4, gets into the spirit of things. Credit: Michael Wilson\/The West Australian<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t believe we move it from June to (November) and yet we\u2019ve got elements of both here today, but I think everyone will be coming down here today.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a free event. It\u2019s a family day. It\u2019s a day to celebrate everything that we love about Western Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elena Fraser and her daughter Isabelle, 4, have made a tradition of celebrating WA Day at the festival and said Sunday\u2019s weather was the best yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year was way too hot,\u201d Ms Fraser said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we didn\u2019t do the show this year so today has been perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the sun dipped, the energy shifted to the main stage, where WA favourites Little Birdy and Jebediah lit up the night, sending the festival out on a high and leaving families already counting down to next year.<\/p>\n

Little Birdy lead singer Katy Steele said events like WA Day strengthened both musicians and the broader community.<\/p>\n

\u201cMusic is everything you know music is life,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese type of events they help the artist and they help the community to be a more vibrant place which we all want.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AbigailCamera IconAbigail Peterson-Lang, 8. Credit: Michael Wilson\/The West Australian\"NeelaCamera IconNeela Khayatan, 4, is pictured with the Cricketers from Fliptease. Credit: Michael Wilson\/The West Australian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thousands of West Aussies poured into Burswood Park on Sunday as the WA Day Festival continued its lively…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":303373,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,134,44,168321],"class_list":["post-303372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-news","tag-wa-day-celebrations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=303372"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303372\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/303373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=303372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=303372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=303372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}