Paper Planet returns to Fed Square for RESET in 2026

Fed Square’s RESET – a free festival for grounding and growing – returns in 2026, bringing together artists, environmental leaders, community organisations and families for a season of practical action, creative participation and greener living.

Kicking off at Fed Square this Spring, the fourth annual RESET festival, proudly supported by Bupa, invites Melburnians to get their hands in the soil, learn new skills, repair and repurpose everyday items and explore more sustainable ways of living.

“RESET celebrates creative sustainability. Our festival brings people together to make positive change and leave a light touch on our planet – be it through planting, repairing, reading, or making – living more sustainably is creative, achievable and genuinely enjoyable,” said Melbourne Arts Precinct Director & CEO Katrina Sedgwick.

“This year’s program brings an extraordinary range of community organisations, artists and environmental advocates into the heart of the city and extends beyond Fed Square through planting activities taking place across Victoria,” continued Sedgwick.

Bupa Director Social Impact and Sustainability, Bronwyn Portes said “RESET is a powerful example of how Bupa and Fed Square are working together to inspire meaningful sustainable action for people of all ages while demonstrating that healthier people and a healthier planet go hand in hand.”

Planting Party

Planting Party, presented with Creative Climate, returns for its second year on Saturday 5 September. Taking over Fed Square’s Skyline Car Park and Test Garden, the family-friendly event will combine talks, workshops, art, food, a plant market and live music. Visitors can join hands-on activities spanning propagation, weaving, botanical drawing and habitat building, hear conversations about Caring for Country, language and regenerative design, learn about Birrarung as a living entity, and meet grassroots environmental groups working across Victoria.

Planting Party is also the culmination and celebration of a month-long community planting effort that will see hundreds of volunteers plant thousands of native plants across 13 sites throughout Victoria during August. Lead support for Planting was generously provided by Bupa, Melbourne Water and Burndap Birrarung burndap umarkoo collaboration.

The RESET program continues on Saturday 12 September with the Zero Waste Festival, presented with Zero Waste Victoria. The day-long event will feature talks, repair and mending activities including small electronics, clothes, book and fabric swaps, sustainable cooking, market stalls and creative activities for children. It will culminate in the inaugural ReWear Runway, showcasing garments transformed through reclaiming, repairing, reusing and repurposing materials. The day will also feature Australia’s favourite garden gnome, Costa Georgiadis, celebrating the Melbourne launch of his new book, Costa’s Garden: Fruit, with stories, laughter and plenty of gardening inspiration.

A new kind of Sunday session arrives with Book Doof: a daytime rave for readers, presented with Book Doof on Sunday 13 September. Readers can bring a book, contribute to a community book exchange and settle in with free tea and coffee as a DJ plays vinyl from the Atrium balcony. Designed as a no-pressure social experience, visitors can read, journal, sketch or simply enjoy some quiet company – no small talk required.

The Big Toy Swap

Two new creative workshops will encourage participants to slow down and reconsider the materials around them. On Saturday 19 September, Junk Journaling, led by hey.raco and Akres, invites participants to step away from their screens and create layered junk journals from scraps and repurposed materials. On Sunday 20 September, Remake & Repair offers two sessions in which visitors can learn practical sewing, mending and upcycling techniques, repairing and repurposing their own clothing.

RESET will also feature free school holiday activities from Saturday 19 September to Sunday 4 October. On Wednesday 23 September, The Big Toy Swap, presented with Zero Waste Victoria, returns, inviting families to exchange clean, gently used toys, books and games, giving outgrown items a new life while refreshing the toy box without buying new.

Melbourne’s Polyglot Theatre will celebrate 15 years since Paper Planet was first commissioned and premiered at Fed Square. From Monday 28 September to Friday 2 October, families can enter a forest of towering cardboard trees in The Edge and use paper, tape and their imaginations to build new creatures, costumes, stories and environments. The universally accessible, child-led experience has travelled internationally since its 2011 premiere. In a special presentation for RESET, supported by the City of Melbourne, Paper Planet returns to the place where it began.

Across the holidays, families can also take part in a precinct-wide nature discovery activity and enjoy free afternoon films on the Big Screen. Reflecting RESET’s focus on the natural world, the Outdoor Cinema program will screen a run of nature adventure classics including Flipper on Wednesday 30 September, Free Willy on Thursday 1 October and Fly Away Home on Friday 2 October.

Other highlights include World Cleanup Day on Friday 18 September, when the Yarra Riverkeeper Association will lead a hands-on community clean-up along the Birrarung and surrounding public spaces, followed by opportunities to meet river advocates, learn how to support healthier cities and waterways, and enjoy a free sausage sizzle.

The season concludes on Saturday 17 October with Confluence 2026: Community Waterways Forum, presented with the Yarra Riverkeeper Association as part of RESET and Birrarung Riverfest. From 10am to 3pm, community advocates, volunteers, researchers, Traditional Owners and waterway champions will gather to share knowledge, explore practical solutions and help shape the future of Melbourne’s rivers, creeks and wetlands.

Book Doof: a daytime rave for readers

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