Thousands of New Zealand children are excitedly gearing up for the countryís biggest children's festival, TV2 KidsFest, which kicks off in Christchurch at the end of the month. "Interest in the festival has been huge this year", says publicity co-ordinator Katie Macbeth. "We've been taking calls from all over the country from as far back as March"

While the majority of kids who attend the festival are from Christchurch and Canterbury, many children and their families travel from as far afield as Dunedin and Auckland to take part in the activities. Children have 120 events to choose from across the two-week school holiday period. The range of activities on offer is as diverse as ever and to help with the decision making process, events are grouped under the headings Art, Craft & Creativity, Knowledge & Discovery, Plays, Shows & Concerts, Sports, Games & Adventure and Young Performers.

Heavy bookings are expected once tickets become available on Saturday 12 June. Traditionally, bookings are especially busy in the first few days after tickets become available. "It's quite common for some of the most popular events to sell out within just a few of hours," says Katie Macbeth. Ticketek, the booking agent for 76 of the festivalís events, have rostered on all available staff in order to cope with the huge demand. Ticketek are likely to sell up to 24,000 tickets to TV2 KidsFest events alone.