15,000 young people are expected to travel to Sydney for the Australian Catholic Youth Festival to be held 7-9 December 2017.  The theme of this Festival is Open new horizons for spreading joy.  The Festival offers a multitude of ways of expressing Catholic faith in an amazing three-day experience.  ACYF will be held at Sydney Olympic Park and other nearby venues.  The Festival is for year 9 to 30* year olds (*Note age bracket has been extended).   Registration cost for participants from Ballarat Diocese is expected to be around $190 (covers all 3 days – a meal ticket will be extra). 

Parishes and schools are asked to consider sending a group.  Smaller parishes might join together or connect their young people with another parish.  Ballarat Diocese will be assisting with this, including planning travel and accommodation.  Contact us at youth@ballarat.catholic.org.au if you want more details or want to organise a group to go. 

ACYF is hosted by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference.  The idea of hosting a large national festival grew out of Australia’s involvement in World Youth Days and a wish to gather Australia’s Catholic youth together. It exists to provide young people with opportunities to explore and deepen their faith, to be empowered to be agents of change in the world today, and to encounter and celebrate the diversity and vitality of Catholic faith in Australia.  It also gives the Bishops of Australia the opportunity to hear and meet the young people of Australia. The first Festival was held in Melbourne in 2013 and the second in Adelaide in 2015.  Many young people from Ballarat Diocese, together with Bishop Paul Bird, attended both events.  An even bigger number of participants and leaders is expected to make the journey from our diocese to Sydney 7-9 December 2017.

Information updates will be posted here regularly and also you can check the ACYF site here

Registrations open 26th April.
Early Bird registration closes 18th August.