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TAMS light up perth 2021

Mastocytosis and Mast Cell Diseases Awareness Day 2025

20 October 2025 will be the eighth annual International Mastocytosis and Mast Cell Diseases Awareness Day.

As TAMS approaches Awareness Day and our local #SpotOurSpots campaign in October 2025, we are focusing on giving a voice and visual representation to all those living with or caring for people with MCADs, including all variants of mastocytosis and subtypes of mast cell activation syndrome.

To participate in this year’s Awareness Day and help foster hope, inspiration and connection within and beyond our community, we invite you to:

Global video campaign

Help us achieve greater awareness while sharing your voice. Share your unique perspective on living with or caring for someone with a mast cell disease on Awareness Day: 20 October 2025 via video. By adding your voice, you’ll help raise understanding, reduce isolation and strengthen the call for better support and research globally.

Share your story:

  • Film a short video up to 60 seconds long (portrait mode) talking about your life with a mast cell disease.
  • Post it on your social media and stories on Monday, 20 October.

Use the hashtag #LifeWithMastCellDisease and tag:

Facebook: @mmcdawarenessday and  @australasianmastocytosissociety

Instagram: @mastcellawarenessday and @australasianmastcells

Patient profiles

By completing a TAMS patient profile, you can share your experiences of living with mastocytosis, mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS) or symptomatic hereditary alpha tryptasemia. Your data will also help us create insightful infographics about the mast cell community across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.

Submit art

Whether you are a beginner or formally trained in a creative field, you can submit digital art, fibre works, canvases, pottery, glass, poetry, photography, videography, sculpture or other creative expressions or anything else you create. If you are excited to create and share, we are excited to see it!

We encourage contributors to share their process or finished work on video platforms like TikTok or Instagram so TAMS can reshare. While we are glad to showcase static images with a statement about your piece, videos are a great way to capture attention beyond our immediate community.

You can also donate your art to help form the basis of a series of TAMS raffles or auctions in 2026. Selected works will also be included in a poll for our upcoming TAMS calendar, which will be available for pre-order late next year and feature high-quality photos of community art chosen by our community.

Want to participate by creating art, but not sure where to start? Read our ideas and inspiration below to help get your creativity flowing.

Send a short quote

Short on time? You can contribute by sending a personal quote about living with an MCAD. You may also choose to share a quote that holds personal meaning, along with a short sentence or two about how it relates to your journey as a patient or carer.

Please send all quotes to info@mastocytosis.org.au

#SpotOurSpots: Bring colour to mast cell disease awareness 2025

Welcome to the 2025 #SpotOurSpots campaign, where we invite our cherished members and friends to join forces in covering our TAMS Facebook and Instagram pages in purple in honour of the 8th International Mastocytosis and Mast Cell Diseases Awareness Day. An initiative dedicated to amplifying recognition, awareness and support for individuals living with mast cell diseases and their loved ones.

This year, for the third year, we’re turning the spotlight onto our community, asking that you all step up to be agents of change in this year’s #SpotOurSpots campaign.

Following the event, TAMS will compile a gallery of your crafted contributions and activities infused with vibrant shades of purple, replacing the original generic and monochromatic images we shared. Our slideshow will stand as a testament to our collective journey, not just as TAMS, or as patients and caregivers, but as individuals brimming with skills, creativity, and passion: living with mast cell diseases, not defined by them.

Your contributions to this campaign will enable TAMS to sustain the momentum of raising awareness within our community, not just on Awareness Day, but throughout the year.

Let’s work together to harness the power of our creativity and elevate the #SpotOurSpots campaign beyond our light up initiative to one that represents the reason for our cause, being the unique, resilient, diversely talented, creative, passionate individuals that make up our rare, but important community.

How to participate in Awareness Day

Be part of the movement that illuminates the path to understanding and awareness of Mast Cell Diseases on International Mastocytosis and Mast Cell Diseases Awareness Day 2025.

For those needing a little inspiration TAMS has compiled some crafts we’d love to see or members and friends turn into hope-inspiring purple and awareness day themed creations.

  • Snap a photo of yourself (or a group-shot!) dressed in purple clothes or spots.
  • Use your LEDs, colour-changing globes, a projector, or cellophane to make your house glow purple.
  • Knit something with purple, pink and white yarn or wool, or add spots to a design.
  • Make origami (like a wishing crane) using purple paper, or start with white paper and colour it in.
  • Make a beaded purple, pink and white door frame or wall hanging, some jewellery, or a keychain.
  • Create a drawing of your own, or colour in an existing one (like the TAMS Quoll)
  • Make some textile art using cross stitch, embroidery, felting, quilting, crocheting, amigurumi, or needle punch.
  • Make an awareness collage or scrapbook up a purple storm.
  • Create a mast cell-inspired paper quilling.
  • Paint something on a canvas using watercolours, acrylics, or oils. Or try colouring outside the lines by using rocks or a window as your canvas!
  • Create an Awareness Day-themed artwork on a digital medium.
  • Baking and dessert decoration (sugar cookies, cake-pops or cakes etc)
  • Host your tabletop role-playing game “one-shot” that pitches players against a giant mast cell and its mediator minions (included).
  • Write an awareness poem, short story or recipe (purple, low histamine, etc.)
  • Make some cell art with resin – from petrie to pretty.
  • Craft a clay creation, like something made of ceramics or pottery.
  • October Jack-O-Lanterns with a #SpotOurSpots twist! Maybe paint yours purple or spotty, or carve a mast cell design to shine your light through.
  • Make media using TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, etc. Share-friendly content, including wording, is available on TAMS and the International Awareness Day Facebook page. Please ensure you’re either sharing TAMS information or speaking about your experiences please 🙂
Activities with children

For families with younger children we’ve compiled a few simple ways to be involved with the help of little hands.

Tween/teen activity suggestions

Below are suggestions for tweens, teens and their families. While some of the crafts are similar, don’t be fooled, they require “levelled up” skills!

#SpotOurSpots lighting up in October 2025

Where you can #SpotOurSpots in Australia

TAMS would like to thank the generosity of the following landmarks for changing their colours, free of charge, to help raise awareness about mast cell activation disorders (MCADs)

We encourage people to safely take photos of themselves at/near these places and post them on social media with the hashtag #SpotOurSpots to help raise awareness. You can also email them to info@mastocytosis.org.au for us to share.

Australian Capital Territory
  1. The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (20 & 21 Oct)
  2. Canberra Airport (20 Oct)
  3. John Gorton Building – with thanks to Transport Canberra and City Services (20 Oct)
  4. Treasury Building (20 Oct)
  5. National Carillion with thanks to the National Capital Authority (20 Oct)
  6. The Museum of Australian Democracy (Old Parliament House) – with thanks to the National Capital Authority (20 Oct)
  7. The Canberra Times Fountain – with thanks to Transport Canberra and City Services (20 Oct)
  8. Malcolm Fraser Bridge – with thanks to Transport Canberra and City Services (20 Oct)
  9. Light Rail (all stops) – with thanks to Transport Canberra and City Services and Canberra Metro Operations: CMET (20 Oct)
South Australia
  1. Riddoch Arts and Cultural Centre – with thanks to the City of Mount Gambier (20 & 21 Oct)
  2. Mount Gambier Lady Nelson Visitors Centre – with thanks to the City of Mount Gambier (20 & 21 Oct)
  3. Unley Town Hall – with thanks to the City of Unley (18 & 19  Oct)
  4. Riverbank Footbridge – with thanks to Department for Infrastructure and Transport – South Australia (18, 19, 20 Oct)
  5. Parliament House – with thanks to Parliament of South Australia (21 Oct)
Queensland
  1. Story Bridge – with thanks to Brisbane City Council (28 Oct)
  2. Victoria Bridge –  with thanks to Brisbane City Council (28 Oct)
  3. Reddacliff Place Steam Sculptures – with thanks to Brisbane City Council (28 Oct)
  4. Wickham Terrace Car Park Architectural Wall – with thanks to Brisbane City Council (28 Oct)
  5. Breakfast Creek Bridge – with thanks to the Brisbane City Council (28 Oct)
  6. Yowoggera Bridge – with thanks to the Brisbane City Council (28 Oct)
  7. Kurilpa Bridge, South Brisbane – with thanks to the Department of Public Works (20 & 21 Oct)
  8. Neville Bonner Bridge, South Brisbane (20 & 21 Oct)
  9. Longreach Water Tower – with thanks to the Longreach Regional Council (20, 21, 22 Oct) 
  10. Ipswich Civic Centre (20 & 21 Oct)
  11. 1 Nicholas Street Facade (20 & 21 Oct)
  12. Sir Albert Abbott Administration Building – with thanks to Mackay Regional Council (20 & 21 Oct)
  13. The Sir Leo Hielscher Bridges – Gateway Motorway (20 Oct)
  14. Building G40 Ian O’Connor Building (20 & 21 Oct)
  15. Building G35 Griffith University Bridge (20 & 21 Oct)
Victoria
  1. CityLink Sound Tube – with thanks to Transurban (20 Oct)
  2. Bolte Bridge – with thanks to Transurban (20 Oct)
  3. Monash Park Tree – with thanks to Greater Shepparton City Council (20 Oct)
  4. Mooroopna Water Tower – with thanks to Greater Shepparton City Council (20 Oct)
  5. Riverlinks Eastbank – with thanks to Greater Shepparton City Council (20 Oct)
  6. Victoria Park Lake – with thanks to Greater Shepparton City Council (20 Oct)
New South Wales
  1. Newcastle City Hall Clock Tower – with thanks to the City of Newcastle (20 Oct)
Western Australia
  1. Albany Town Square – with thanks to the City of Albany (25 to 31 Oct)
  2. Alison Hartman Gardens – with thanks to the City of Albany (25 to 31 Oct)
  3. South Perth Foreshore Mindeerup Feature (20 Oct) 
  4. The Old Mill (20 Oct)
  5. Mandurah Bridge – with thanks to the City of Mandurah (18 Oct) 
  6. Joondalup Drive – with thanks to Mainroad WA (18 Oct)
  7. Mounts Street Bridge – with thanks to Mainroad WA (18 Oct)
  8. Sky Ribbon– with thanks to Mainroad WA (18 Oct)
  9. Northbridge Tunnel – with thanks to Mainroad WA (18 Oct)
  10. Graham Farmer Freeway Tunnel – with thanks to Mainroad WA (18 Oct)
Tasmania
  1. Tasman Bridge – with thanks to Tasmanian Government (20 Oct)
Northern Territory
  1. Palmerston Water Tower – with thanks to the City of Palmerston (19 Oct)
  2. Frances Drive Light Pole – with thanks to the City of Palmerston (19 Oct)
  3. Palmerston Library – with thanks to the City of Palmerston (19 Oct)

Disclaimer

Due to unforeseen circumstances, some buildings may change their plans without notification. TAMS tries to make sure all information on this website, and the details of buildings lighting up are correct. We try to verify and confirm as much as possible, but are not responsible for incorrect information.

Current as at 11 October 2024.