Eastland is bringing footy to Melbourne’s east with Footy HQ and Footy Fest this AFL finals season with customers encouraged to celebrate with AFLW superstar and Four’N Twenty ambassador Tayla Harris (Melbourne), plus Marcus Bontempelli (Western Bulldogs), Liam Baker (Richmond) Tom Hawkins (Geelong), and Imogen Barnett (Collingwood).
Footy HQ is a free celebration that invites families to explore the wide world of football as they step into the shoes of their favourite sports professionals across the football industry. The activation will take over Level One, Central Mall every day of these school holidays from Monday 18 September until Sunday, 1 October.
Celebrations continue on Friday 29 September from 10am – 2pm with Eastland’s Footy Fest in Ringwood Town Square, Eastland’s answer to Melbourne’s Grand Final Eve family party. This will be a chance to get up close with the stars of the game, AFL Hawthorn Mascots, win prizes with rebel’s handball competition, have kids’ faces painted in their team colours, footy themed crafts and exciting prizes and giveaways for the whole family.
The Grand Final parade will also be shown on the Ringwood Town Square big screen, with free Four’N Twenty pies for the first 500 visitors.
“We want everyone to be able to feel as though they are a part of the Grand Final festivities. We love engaging with our community and making Eastland a hub for family fun,” said Greg Balmforth, General Manager of Eastland.
At the two-week Footy HQ event, kids will explore the wide world of footy, with the chance to step into the shoes of a budding athlete, sports media, a senior coach, or a creative professional. Spend one-on-one time with media teams from the Eastern Football Netball League and Radio EasternFM to learn tricks of the trade and find out how they started their professional journeys.
“Getting young people involved and loving footy is great start to living a happy and healthy life. Events like this are a fun to introduce that and gives fans an opportunity to meet some of their heroes and see what you can become.” said Premiership Demon, Tayla Harris.
Footy fans will receive their very own player card to record their stats from fun Footy HQ activities, including a time-trialled obstacle course and handball target competition. They can also learn about team strategies and find out if they’re cut out for a footy future with the interactive AFL career predictor.
