Festival of the Brick 2024: An Australian Adventure
Around this time last year, my partner and I went on a road trip to BrickBuilt Sydney and visited all of the LEGO Certified Stores in the Sydney area to obtain the LEGO store passport stamps. This year we embarked on another road trip to BrickBuilt Sydney, but managed to extend it to make it into a 19-day LEGO-themed adventure we called the Festival of the Brick.
What is the Festival of the Brick?
So what is the Festival of the Brick? For us, it was the name of an epic trip comprised of 19 days of LEGO-related events and travels from Melbourne via Sydney up to Maryborough, in Queensland, and then back to Melbourne via Brisbane, Port Macquarie, Newcastle, and Canberra. It wasn’t entirely planned to be LEGO-focused, but we ended up having something LEGO-related happen every single day of our journey.
Day One - SORTLUG Meeting
The Festival started with the weekly SortLUG Zoom call. There are usually lots of random chats with people from many different countries over the course of 14 hours. I rarely stay for the full 14 hours, but it’s fun to pop in and out through the call, and it’s an entertaining way to catch up with AFOL friends from around the world, learn about their other interests, and share LEGO fan news. It was a sad call as we paid tribute to Naomi Takeuchi (Brickanista), a member of our extended SORTLUG family, who had passed away the previous weekend.
Day Two - MUGs Meeting
Rosaparks by matt roberts
The Melbourne LEGO User Group (MUGs) has a regular monthly meeting on the second Sunday of the month, so this worked well with our Festival of the Brick plans. As usual, the meeting was held at the clubrooms from 11 am to 4 pm and was very well attended. It’s always lots of fun and featured the usual chats, set building, sorting, partsies, and the monthly MOC build competition.
The theme for the competition was Female Heroes, Icons and Role Models, and it produced some stunning builds. The most popular build, as voted by the attendees, went to Rosa Parks by Matt Roberts. Other notable builds included Supergirl by Travis Matheson and Catwoman by Aido Kessler
Catwoman by aido kessler
Supergirl by travis matheson
chima light - Pic from ebay
Day Three and Four - Random LEGO Purchases
Day three saw us driving an hour across our own city to pick up a Chima minifig light for $5AUD so I could add it to my large-scale minifig collection. The next day, we caught up with an old friend from my hometown for lunch. By some coincidence, he has recently started building LEGO sets as a hobby.
While visiting a nearby charity shop, we found a used but complete set of 10314 Dried Flower Centrepiece at around a third of the full retail price. One could argue that including these two days is a bit of a stretch. But you could also say there *were* LEGO-related purchases, so they do need to be included in our Festival of the Brick.
Day Five - The Art of the Brick Immersive Experience
The fifth day of our Festival of the Brick saw us visiting the The Art of the Brick Immersive Experience which is currently on display in Melbourne at the Melbourne Showgrounds. This is the third Nathan Sawaya exhibition we have visited - the others being the original The Art of the Brick and The Art of the Brick: DC Super Heroes. I was originally skeptical about there being enough new content to justify visiting the exhibit, but I was pleasantly surprised to find it to be significantly different, with updated versions of classic Sawaya builds along with new builds and special visual effects.
The art of the brick
The highlight was definitely the skull presentation with moving skulls and the way the various visual effects integrated with the LEGO builds. At the end of the exhibit, there was a small play area and a shop selling The Art of the Brick merchandise, including t-shirts, mugs, caps, tote bags, bookmarks, and cards. Sadly they were out of stock of the souvenir book at the time, but they did arrange for it to be sent out to us once additional copies had been made available.
The art of the brick
The art of the brick
The art of the brick
We rounded out the day with a visit to the nearby Highpoint LEGO Certified Store (LCS) to pick up the May passport stamp and to look over the new stock.
Day Six - Road Trip to Sydney
The focus for day six of the Festival of the Brick was to drive the nine and a bit hours to Sydney and spend time with our AFOL hosts while they frantically completed their last-minute preparations for BrickBuilt. As always, it takes longer than you expect to complete a last-minute build, and I believe they were still busy building until the early hours of the morning.
Day Seven - Brickbuilt Sydney Bump-In
Day seven of the Festival of the Brick was centered around the bump-in for BrickBuilt. As our loading dock time wasn’t until the early afternoon, we had a quiet start while recovering from our journey the previous day. Fortunately, we were traveling with MOCs that were easy to set up, so it didn’t take us very long to have everything in place. That gave us a chance to have a look around at some MOCs and chat with AFOLs before heading back to have dinner with our hosts.
Day Eight and Nine - BrickBuilt Sydney
Fire gorgon by Andrew Steele
Days eight and nine were all about BrickBuilt Sydney. This was one of the main reasons for embarking on the Festival of the Brick. The event was hosted by SydLUG and was held at the Howie Complex at Sydney Olympic Park. This year, 5,500 members of the public were able to see 240 display tables of wonderful builds as exhibited by 152 LEGO fans, including 16 LEGO Masters Australia contestants.
Over the two-day event, over $18,000 in funds were raised for their various charities. The Saturday VIP night was devoted to AFOL activities, with food and drink available. As part of the evening, there were award presentations, a scavenger hunt, two lots of Dirty Brickster, and the lights were dimmed for a “lights out/glow zone” section.
Some of my favourite builds included Andrew Steele’s Fire Gorgon, the SydLUG Space collab, Max Kerr’s Rocket, Andrew Hedger’s Scuba Town, Philip Miles’ Audrey Hepburn builds, and Jackson Shapiera’s Brickbeard and the Bloctopus. To be honest, I could probably easily name another 15-20 outstanding builds - there were certainly many high-quality MOCs on display, and it was hard to single out just a few.
Rocket by Max kerr
Audrey hepburn and gregory peck by Phil myles
scuba town by andrew hedger
Blackbeard and the bloctopus by jackon shapeira
the sydlug space collab
Day Ten - Pitt Street LEGO Certified Store
Star wars display at the Pitt street LCs in sydney
On the day after BrickBuilt, we continued the Festival of the Brick by catching the train into the centre of Sydney to visit the Pitt Street LCS. It’s just over 6 months since we first visited the store on its opening weekend last year. I was happy to find they still had the brick-built Star Wars Emperor’s chair in place from the recent May 4th promotion, but I was disappointed they no longer had the extensive range of LEGO-related merchandise.
selection of space themed minifig torsos
However, I was delighted to find the Minifig Factory had the space-themed designs, as found at other Minifig Factories in overseas LEGO Stores. I quickly threw together a design, and it was only afterward that I realised I should have chosen something different to fit in with my previous choice of designs from visits to other Minifig Factory sites. Hopefully, I’ll be able to correct this mistake while it’s still available. It should be noted that the choice of minifig parts was poor - such that the staff even made customers aware of the issue in case it affected their decision to print a minifig.
While there, we filled a number of boxes from the Pick and Build wall at the request of our Sydney AFOL hosts and then headed back to their place via the train.
Day Eleven - Newcastle
minifig at the robina LCS
A two-hour drive and a later start then arranged, meant we had to change our original plan of visiting the Charlestown LCS in Newcastle before catching up with some AFOL friends for coffee at the magnificent Heatherbrae Pies.
We had a great catch-up after not seeing each other properly for a number of years, and there was much chat about LEGO-related topics and the AFOL community in general. We could have chatted for hours, but we had a 6 1/2-hour drive to our next overnight stop in Tweed Heads.
Day Twelve - Gold Coast and Brisbane
From Tweed Heads, the Festival of the Brick continued with a short twenty-minute drive over the border into Queensland and to the Robina LCS. It was our first visit to the store, and I was keen for the store passport stamp and to see if they had anything different from the other stores.
gold coast mosaic at the robina LCs
Like most LCS stores in Australia, it has a mosaic and a large minifig sculpture reflecting the area near the store. The mosaic for this store is larger than most and features the beachfront skyline of the Gold Coast. The minifig is building a sandcastle and is being attacked by a seagull - the same design appears on the store passport stamp. Sadly, there was nothing for us to purchase as the stock was pretty much the same as our local stores.
Dreamworld LCs
Another short twenty-five minute drive up the road and we were at the Dreamworld LCS at the Dreamworld theme park. This was our second visit to the store, our first being in 2018, and it has been remodeled and renovated since then. The store is managed by a different company from the rest of the LCS in Australia, and this is reflected in the range of available stock and the in-store decorations.
There is no store-specific mosaic or minifig reflecting the local area. What it does have, though, is a large number of brick-built sculptures both in the store and in a separate room off to the side - plenty of great photo opportunities for LEGO fans of all ages! I managed to find a DreamZzz tote bag and the Animal Crossing polybag, which I hadn’t been able to find in any of the other stores.
interior of the dreamworld store
part of the display at the dreamworld LCS
Our next stop was the Chermside LCS in Brisbane, which was around another hour up the road from Dreamworld. I was a little disappointed in this store. They had just received a large delivery of stock and it was stacked up in front of their store mosaic of the Story Bridge in Brisbane. At least I was able to take a few photos of the Steve Irwin-style minifig with a crocodile. The store stamp was acquired, but no purchases were made.
Minifig and crocodile at the Chermside LCS
The Story Bridge mosaic at the Chermside LCS
After visiting the stores, we headed north for a three hour drive to our next stop in Maryborough, Queensland.
Day Thirteen - Maryborough
books found in maryborough
I originally thought this would be a LEGO-free day, as our primary purpose for visiting the area was to deliver non-LEGO-related items to a friend. In the morning, we had a walk around the town to see the Mary Poppins statue and visit the ANZAC memorial before consuming breakfast at a local cafe near the Maryborough Market.
After walking through the market, we visited a couple of local charity stores and I was surprised to find two LEGO books not yet in my collection. Without even trying, it was a LEGO day after all!
Day Fourteen - Brisbane
Leaving Maryborough, we drove the three hours south back to Brisbane for the return leg of our Festival of the Brick.
Bricks n Fun
Our first stop was to Bricks n Fun. Normally a visit to the store would include a look through their current display, but our timing wasn’t great as they were still updating and modifying the display in preparation for the upcoming school holidays, so it wasn’t available to view. It was a bit disappointing, but we did find a few things to buy, so it wasn’t a totally wasted journey. They carry an interesting range of new and retired LEGO sets and accessories.
The next stop was to Brick Resales which neither of us had previously visited. Brick Resales is a huge second-hand store selling all manner of LEGO parts and other products. We had a lovely chat with the owners and staff, admired the creative builds around the store, and fossicked for parts for future builds.
Brick resales
inside brick resales
The last LEGO stop for the day was a revisit to the Robina LCS, as our Sydney AFOL hosts had requested a box of items from the Pick and Build Wall. From there it was a short journey to our overnight stop in Tweed Heads.
Day Fifteen - Port Macquarie
From Tweed Heads, we drove around four and a half hours to Port Macquarie to set up our builds for the Port Macquarie Brickfest. We arrived mid-afternoon which gave us plenty of time to set up our MOCs, drive around the town, and catch up with the other AFOLs for dinner at the nearby Settlers Inn pub. This was a relaxing way to ease into the event and catch up with members of Rainbow Bricks, some of whom we hadn’t seen in person for many years.
our MOCs on display at the Port macquarie Brickfest
Day Sixteen - Port Macquarie Brickfest
Diorama for Star wars photography
The Port Macquarie Brickfest is a small, one-day regional event that raises money for Port Macquarie Pink Ladies to support their work at the Port Macquarie Base Hospital. The event is hosted by Rainbow Bricks with the support of volunteers from the Port Macquarie Pink Ladies. It was exciting to attend a new-to-us event and meet new people, and catch up with old friends.
The average age of the exhibitors was probably older than most of the LEGO Fan shows we normally attend, and there was a good mixture of MOCs and set builds. The local AFOLs should be noted for their enthusiasm for the hobby and their willingness to engage with the public and show the fine details of their builds.
MOC highlights included Tim McEwan’s 1980s town layout, Greg and Karen Davies’ Viking diorama, and Richard Henry’s Star Wars photography. There were also a number of vendors selling a variety of LEGO sets and merchandise and a play area that was constantly full of children eager to build with LEGO bricks.
vintage town display
viking diorama
The show was over too quickly, but we joined other AFOLs for dinner at the Settlers Inn before driving two and a half hours south for our next overnight stop in Anna Bay.
Day Seventeen - Bricks n Things and Newcastle
Bricks n things
Staying overnight in Anna Bay meant we could visit Bricks N Things, in the nearby Taylor’s Beach, as part of the Festival of the Brick. Bricks N Things is a LEGO-themed build space and party venue. There’s also a magnificent display of MOCs, sets, and a city layout created by the owners, Kevin and Angela.
inside Bricks n things
From Anna Bay, it was an hour's drive to the Charlestown LCS in Newcastle, where we were able to complete our set of New South Wales LEGO Certified Store passport stamps. The store features a mosaic of nearby Nobby’s Beach, and the large minifig is fishing. A number of past LEGO Masters Australia contestants have been employed at the store, and it has twice won “Store of the Year” amongst the LCS in Australia.
Nobby’s Beach
Minifig Fishing
Store of the year trophy
From Newcastle, we drove the two hours back to Sydney for the night where we stayed with our Sydney AFOL hosts and chatted about our adventures since BrickBuilt.
Day Eighteen - Canberra
From Sydney, we drove three hours to Canberra to visit the Brickman’s latest display, Curiosity. I think we’ve been to just about every Brickman-built exhibit over the years and this would have to be my favourite. Located at the wonderful Questacon for around 12 months, the exhibit features space themed LEGO builds, brain teasers and tributes to women of STEM.
Planets
Mars Rover perseverance
scaling minifigs
Apart from the models of the spacecraft, my favourite parts were the optical illusions, the periodic table, and the different scale minifigs. If you are interested in innovation in math and science, this is definitely worth visiting when in Canberra or if you get the chance to see it at another venue in the future.
optical. illusions
periodic table of elements
Day Nineteen - The Long Drive Home
photo by cat sparks
Before leaving Canberra and beginning our drive home, we drove past the “LEGO” House in the Canberra suburb of Turner to check if the big minifig was still in place. It was still there but has now been painted and moved to a different position in the front yard from my last visit in 2015. We didn’t stop to take a photo, as our time was limited, but a friend was there a week later, so I’ve included their photo.
We drove on for three and a half hours before stopping at a non-AFOL friend’s house for another delivery. By then, I thought our Festival of the Brick was over, but two hours later, we made a stop in the town of Seymour and visited the local Toyworld toy store.
toyworld, seymour
We were delighted to find they still had two of the Z-Blob plushies available with a LEGO purchase. We couldn’t leave them there, so a purchase was made and the Z-Blobs have joined our LEGO Plushie collective. From there, it was just over an hour’s drive to our home, where we spent a quiet night recovering from our epic journey.
Final Words
We had so much fun on our Festival of the Brick adventure! Everything—catching up with old friends and meeting new ones, looking at interesting MOCs, and visiting LEGO-related stores—made it a fabulous holiday.
Once we were home, we realised just how many local LUG and LEGO fan events we had missed while away: two of the other nearby LUGs had meetings; there was a Toy Brick Market and a Bricknanza market; our LUG had a Pizza and Partsies social night; and a local AFOL and LEGO Masters Australia contestant, Sam Hardy, had a LEGO related art exhibition. I was sad to have missed those events but satisfied to have had 19 days of LEGO fun!
What’s the longest LEGO road trip you’ve ever been on? Let us know in the comments!
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