Rehearsals are perfected, the stage is ready, and the kids are beside themselves with excitement.
Backstage at the Canberra Theatre on a Wednesday afternoon, they're all flashing "W" signs and yelling "Chookas" as they pass each other backstage, and the energy is ramping up.
In one dressing room, teenagers from Merici College in colour-coordinated leotards and chiffon skirts are pulling their hair back in the mirror.
In another, primary-age students are in matching red pants and black T-shirts, and further down, there are Hawaiian shirts and green shorts.
The costumes, and getting ready together, are only part of it; it's the first time many of them have been backstage at a big theatre before, and it's an experience they won't forget in a hurry.
Welcome to Wakakirri, a word many Aussie parents will be familiar with.
Schools across the country - between 150 and 200 all up, both public and private, high school and primary - spend the better part of the year pulling together a three-to-seven-minute performance, blending dance, drama, and short stories to share ideas and promote social change.
The theme is different each year, and this time around, it's "Guardians of Us".
The event began in 1992 as a story-dance festival for schools, and is now the country's largest performing arts event of its kind.
And it's not a competition, at least not any more, although certain performances will be singled out for state and national recognition and awards.
But Canberra ambassador Will Tran - they don't use the term "judge" - is adamant that it's the story and the way it's told that counts, rather than the quality of the costumes and props.
"The best thing about Wakakirri compared to other events that include performative arts like dance is that there are no winners," he said.
"Everyone gets to be celebrated on stage. It's about telling stories that are relevant to the young people and what affects them in their sphere, and bringing that on stage."
He said while some schools devoted more resources to their production than others - such as high-end costumes and professional choreography - they weren't automatically singled out.
"That is a choice of the school ... There are some schools that will actually work on Wakakirri over a number of years, as opposed to just one year," he said.
"Sometimes it does 'enhance' the performance, but as to the heart and the performative aspect of value - you can put as much light and sound and all that kind of jargon on stage. If the performance doesn't meet the criteria or speak to the story, it might as well not have it there."
This year, 18 Canberra schools are participating, and pollution and the natural world is a common theme, with rubbish and oceans represented in various ways onstage. Other schools have opted for stories of human connection.
But all of them are passionate, and, as the three-day festival finally comes together, there's organised chaos behind the stage door at the back of the theatre.
In fact, the production also runs a backstage work-experience program - we're told that working backstage at Wakakirri is the theatre world equivalent of a first job at McDonald's, due to the scale and the amount of wrangling required.
