Singing dirty ditties during the Wild Dunedin Ōtepoti Mohoao — New Zealand Festival of Nature are children’s entertainers Soil Sistas.
But no need to cover children’s ears — these songs are about organisms that live in the dirt and how to care for them.
Performers Michelle Jackson and Kaitrin McMullan are joined by permaculture educator Michelle Cox for Subterranean Tales, a show with an earthy message.
Ms McMullan said the family-friendly show explored information about creatures in the soil.
‘‘At one point in the show, we get everyone to listen to the ground and listen to all the slurping and the burping and the farting and we have the slurp, burp fart orchestra.
‘‘We sort of flip in and out of different characters.
‘‘So along the way we’ll meet Heidi Einstein — she’s a sort of know-it-all scientist who suffers terribly from myopia.
‘‘And we’ve got Petunia Green Fingers ... a mad gardener.’’
The group will entertain children through song, stories and puppets including a giant worm called Hermin and a ‘‘very cheeky’’ monkey.
‘‘He’s just got a fascination with superheroes, so of course we have to introduce him to the worms because the worms are the superheroes of our planet.’’
The Soil Sistas will perform next week at 11am and 1pm on Tuesday at the Dunedin Botanic Gardens, and at 11am on Thursday at Tūhura Otago Museum.
The shows are supported by Friends of Dunedin Botanic Garden, Wild Dunedin and Tūhura Otago Museum.
Wild Dunedin — New Zealand Festival of Nature starts tomorrow and runs until Sunday April 23.
