Hot August Nights Are On Their Way
THE MOST MAGICAL TIME of the year is almost upon us – Darwin Festival is so close, we can almost smell the tasty treats being cooked up in Festival Park.
And there’s plenty to celebrate in 2019, with the Festival celebrating its 40th anniversary. Artistic Director Felix Preval promises locals and visitors 18 days of jam-packed party vibes in August.
“40 years since our origin as the Bougainvillea Festival is a huge milestone, so we’re promising Darwin one hell of a party!”
He’s not lying – there are 114 events to choose from in 33 venues around Darwin. There will also be a huge influx of creatives, with almost 600 artists involved, almost half calling the NT home. The program is full of eclectic and electric events, with everything from cabaret, comedy, dance, visual art and loads of music.
“There will be mass celebrations of community and resilience, and award-winning comedians providing laugh-a-minute commentary. We’ll also see timely pieces of work examining the experience of First Nations peoples, and late-night parties designed to get you dancing. This year’s Darwin Festival program offers the opportunity for us to come together and discover something new and unique across 18 tropical days and nights,” Preval says.
It all kicks off with the free opening night concert extravaganza featur-ing the legendary Yothu Yindi, local treasure Caiti Baker and emerging singer-songwriter Adrian Eagle.
For a trip down memory lane, be sure to check out Parade Days – a video installation by local artist Huni Bolliger at The Lighthouse, featuring archival images from the Bougainvillea Festival days. Talk about nostalgia!
There’s plenty of regular faves on the bill, including the annual showcase of First Nations artists with the National Indigenous Music Awards, Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair and the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards.
You can also join Australia’s iconic Circus Oz under neon lights as they celebrate everything trashy, glitzy and fabulously tragic about the 80s in their show NEON. It’s an unapologetic and downright dirty dancing cabaret, where circus meets comedy and song in an unforgivably-big-shoulder-pads night out.
Grab a program and a highlighter, cancel all of your August plans, and get working on that wish list!
Win Tickets to Darwin Festival! Keep an eye on our Facebook page for your chance to win one of three double passes.
