There’s something quietly extraordinary about a festival that not only survives but thrives - growing year after year without losing its soul. In a landscape where even major events have fallen by the wayside, The Gum Ball has done the opposite. It has deepened, expanded, and embedded itself into the cultural fabric of regional New South Wales, located in the bush, on the property of Dashville in Lower Belford.

There's a question that has delighted children for more than two decades, and this July it's coming to life on stage right here in Newcastle. Where is the Green Sheep? - the iconic picture book by Mem Fox and illustrator Judy Horacek - is being adapted for the very first time as a full theatrical production, and Civic Theatre Newcastle is one of the first stops on its Australian journey.