Host a FIRST LEGO League festival through your community centre

Hosting a FIRST LEGO League festival turns a robotics event into a broad community celebration. Jr.FLL learners and FIRST LEGO League teams can share robots, test skills, meet mentors and join friendly games, while families explore hands-on STEM stations. A local community centre supplies the rooms, tables and welcoming atmosphere needed for a day that feels open, useful and genuinely local.

In Australia, the strongest festivals fit family routines instead of fighting them. Saturday mornings work well in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Adelaide because many families already use community centres for sport, music and school holiday activities. Regional organisers can reduce travel barriers with online registration, scheduled play sessions and small travel grants.

Teams may come from schools, libraries, home-based groups, coding clubs and informal maker spaces. They need clear season rules, affordable registration, technical support and a pathway that respects the students doing the designing and coding. Mentors, teachers, parents and volunteers can guide that pathway without taking the engineering work away from young people.

Every visitor should meet a robot, try a skill challenge and hear how a young team solved a problem. The event should also create a clear next step into clubs, mentoring or a later FIRST season. Put that promise at the centre of the budget, floor plan, volunteer roster and publicity.

Define the festival format

Choose the event format before booking anything: an exhibition, a skills showcase or a sanctioned qualifier. If teams receive judged scores, awards or invitations to advance, follow the current FIRST season rules for registration, age divisions, robot inspection, judging and advancement. An open community event should use exhibition language and avoid suggesting that it is an official qualification round.

Event format	Best suited to	Typical programme	Main planning focus
Exhibition	New teams and families	Team displays, open play, STEM activities	Welcoming participation and simple judging
Skills showcase	Teams wanting focused practice	Rotating game rounds and mentoring	Balanced team time and reliable judging
Sanctioned qualifier	Registered teams seeking advancement	Full FIRST event structure	Compliance, scoring and official volunteer roles

For a first event, an exhibition often carries the lowest risk. Begin with one competition field, two practice areas and three activity stations, then add elements once volunteer numbers and budgets are proven. A skills showcase works well when mentors want deeper technical learning without an advancement decision.

Choose a date and council-ready venue

Ask the council or booking manager for floor plans, room capacities, accessible routes, toilets, parking, power outlets, Wi-Fi, tables, chairs, storage and cleaning time. Confirm public liability insurance, volunteer coverage, wet-weather options, noise limits and which system must approve robotics activities. Some centres require a bond or induction, while others assign a paid facility attendant to every event.

Choose a date with local schools, libraries and youth groups, and check public holidays, school term dates and major community events. Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. often suits Australian family schedules, but provide a quieter session for younger children. In Perth and Adelaide, summer heat may shape the start time; in Melbourne, include wet-weather access and covered queuing.

When comparing approaches across countries, Maryland community event guidance offers a useful community-host reference. Treat it as a model rather than an Australian rulebook, and confirm all insurance, child-safety, privacy and venue requirements with the relevant local authorities.

Design a family-centred program

Build the programme around short visits, clear choices and enough time for parents to talk with mentors. A workable day might include check-in, a welcome, game rounds, a team showcase, lunch, hands-on building and a final awards or celebration. Publish a running order with venue maps, age guidance, activity length and accessibility details so families can plan the school-run and shared-event day.

Make the centre comfortable for mixed ages. Provide wide aisles, reachable tables, a quiet corner, seating for carers, accessible toilets and a low-cost or no-cost spectator option. Label allergens and keep food under safe temperature control; where food is served, follow Food Standards Australia New Zealand guidance and local council food-premises rules. A supervised robotics try-out area gives siblings something useful to do while teams compete.

Prepare teams and event volunteers

Invite registered FIRST teams early, then reserve places for local demonstration teams if the venue can handle them. Collect team captain contacts, emergency details, consent for optional photographs and any robot storage needs. Give every team a short event guide covering arrival, field access, power, battery handling, judging etiquette, awards and the distinction between exhibition judging and official advancement.

Appoint a volunteer coordinator and use a simple role sheet for registration, field marshals, judges, STEM demonstrators, hospitality, first aid and photography. Brief mentors on their role at the event: guide and encourage, but let students explain their design choices and code. Ask volunteers to model FIRST Core Values and to direct rule questions to the event lead.

Check state and territory child-safety requirements before allocating unsupervised roles. A Working with Children Check or equivalent may be needed for regulated work with children, depending on the jurisdiction and the centre’s policy. Record who has completed checks, provide a code of conduct, and never publish a child’s full name, school year, image or contact details without appropriate consent.

Build safe, accessible and compliant operations

Complete a written risk assessment under the applicable state or territory work health and safety laws. Cover trip hazards, electrical leads, battery charging, tools, manual handling, crowd movement, lost children, first aid, emergency evacuation and incident reporting. Use cable covers, secured charging areas, trained first-aid staff and a clear stop-work authority for event leaders.

If the organising body is covered by the Privacy Act 1988, apply its Australian Privacy Principles and relevant state or territory privacy rules. Collect only what registration requires, store it securely, set a deletion date and use separate consent for public photography. Use photo badges or a designated media zone so families can decline being photographed without drawing attention to themselves.

Check emergency contacts and accessible evacuation procedures with the venue, and include heat, storm, fire and flood closure policies in the event plan. Shade, water and indoor waiting space matter during Australian summer events. Confirm insurance, food hygiene, waste removal and post-event cleaning in writing, then complete a walk-through with council staff, team captains and the volunteer lead before opening.

Promote, sponsor and fund the festival

Promote through school newsletters, council calendars, libraries, youth clubs, local Facebook groups and community newspapers rather than relying on one channel. Give families a single registration page, an event overview, parking information, accessibility details and a volunteer contact. Send participating schools a ready-made social post and reminder sequence for the fortnight before the festival.

Approach local engineering firms, universities, makerspaces and hardware retailers such as Bunnings or Mitre 10 for cash or in-kind support. Ask for consumables, timber, storage boxes, printing, transport vouchers or a mentor demonstration, and offer sponsor visibility without compromising student work or official FIRST branding. Publish what sponsorship pays for so the community can see the benefit.

Set a simple budget for venue hire, insurance, consumables, food, printing, prizes, accessibility, first aid, travel assistance and a contingency. Favour reusable field elements and digital certificates over costly merchandise. Families often ask what comes after junior and FLL teams. The Maryland FIRST FIRST Tech Challenge resources can answer that question, while event staff should direct families to the current Australian season and local registration route.

Invite the community to take part

Make participation visible from the moment registration opens. Show the event schedule, age divisions, cost, what to bring and the support available for teams that need it. Offer a named contact for teachers, carers and first-time teams, and send a final briefing with maps, arrival windows and weather advice. This practical information removes many of the barriers that make families hesitate to enter a robotics space.

Secure the council booking, confirm local FIRST approval and recruit the core volunteer team before announcing the final date. Then open registration, share the programme with schools and community partners, and invite families to attend as participants or spectators. Bring a robot, bring a curious teammate or bring a question about engineering—every valid reason to be present helps the festival grow. Open the doors, welcome the teams and make the next round of local STEM participation begin on festival day.