[Back to the blog](/experience/blog/) # SWELL Sculpture Festival 2026 with kids: stories, seedlings and sculpture > Plan a family visit to SWELL from 11–20 September 2026, with a beach library, seedling workshop and sculpture trail. Includes pram access and a smaller Broadbeach outing. --- A whole sculpture exhibition can sound like a lot of walking to a small child. A story, a seedling to take home and a few artworks to choose between make a more manageable plan. **SWELL Sculpture Festival runs from 11 to 20 September 2026 at Currumbin**, and its children's programme gives families several ways to break up the visit. For guests at Viscount, this is a day away from the beach outside the apartment. Have breakfast before leaving First Avenue, pack what the children will need, and choose one part of the festival to start with. You can always add more if everyone is still keen. ## Make Len Wort Park your starting point Two free activities at **Len Wort Park, Teemangum Street**, have useful daily opening windows during the festival: - [Storyfest Beach Library](https://www.swellsculpture.com.au/activity/storyfest-beach-library/) runs **9 am–3 pm**, offering families a place to pause and share books. - The [Seedling Planter Workshop](https://www.swellsculpture.com.au/activity/seedling-planter-workshop/) runs **10.30 am–3.30 pm**. Children decorate recycled pots and plant seedlings to take home, with Southern Beaches Community Garden. Those hours let you fit the art around the children. An earlier arrival could start with reading, followed by a short wander and the planter activity. Or have lunch first and choose one afternoon stop. Check the activity pages before travelling and allow for other families joining in; an advertised opening window is not a reserved place. Bring a way to carry the finished pot home if you choose the workshop. It is a small detail that is easier to sort out in the apartment than while holding a seedling, a water bottle and a child's hand. ## Give the walk something to look for For children who like collecting and making, [Finding Your Way by BLUSS](https://www.swellsculpture.com.au/activity/finding-your-way-frottage-sculpture-trail-by-bluss/) uses **eight rubbing plates** on blue-and-gold posts. A purchased SWELL Passport and pencil let visitors collect the textures along the trail. The listing gives **8 am–5 pm** and explains where to buy the passport; check it for the current cost. Choose this if the children enjoy a task as they walk. You could also keep things simpler and ask each person to pick a favourite sculpture to describe over dinner. Leave room for an answer that surprises you. Finishing the entire exhibition need not be the measure of a good day. ## Prams, breaks and the trip back SWELL's [accessibility page](https://www.swellsculpture.com.au/accessibility/) says most works can be viewed from the wide concrete foreshore path, while beach and Elephant Rock access is limited for prams and mobility aids. Use the route that suits your family instead of assuming every sculpture has the same approach. The page also identifies accessible toilets, including those at Kropp Park on Teemangum Street. Check the [festival transport options](https://www.swellsculpture.com.au/getting-here/) before leaving Viscount. Currumbin requires an onward journey, and the organiser warns of limited foreshore parking. If using its park-and-ride, plan around the **4.45 pm final return to Currumbin RSL** from Wallace Nicoll Park. Give yourselves time to reach that stop after the children's activities. ## A smaller SWELL outing in Broadbeach If Currumbin is too much for the day, there is a separate installation at [Oasis Shopping Centre](https://www.swellsculpture.com.au/activity/swell-at-oasis-shopping-centre-2026/), **75 Surf Parade, Broadbeach**. **Forest Dwellers by Monte Lupo** combines sculpture, painted timber and seating. The official listing gives **1–30 September, 9 am–5 pm**, with free entry. Central Broadbeach is about fifteen minutes south along the beachfront path from Viscount. That makes this an option to work into a local shopping or lunch outing, with the longer Currumbin visit saved for another day. Back at Viscount, the kitchen and in-apartment laundry take care of dinner and the day's clothes. Browse the [two- and three-bedroom apartments](/broadbeach-accommodation/) for a beachfront stay with room for the family and its latest small plant. ## More from the blog. ### [Kidchella 2026: a Surfers Paradise beachfront stay](/experience/blog/kidchella-surfers-paradise-beachfront-stay/) Local events ### [Gold Coast Show 2027: book the beachfront early](/experience/blog/gold-coast-show-2027/) Travel tips ### [Crafted Beer Festival Broadbeach: walking from Viscount](/experience/blog/broadbeach-craft-beer-festival-2026/) Travel tips ### [BLEACH Festival Surfers Paradise: Ice on the Beach](/experience/blog/thaw-dawn-bleach-festival-first-avenue/) Travel tips ### [Groundwater Country Music Festival Broadbeach](/experience/blog/groundwater-country-music-festival-broadbeach/) Local guide ### [Gold Coast 500 2026: walk in for the race, sleep south of the circuit](/experience/blog/gold-coast-500-2026/) Travel tips [View all stories](/experience/blog/)