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Our first Kalari-Lachlan River Arts Festival is past and the general consensus is that it was fabulously fantastic. Here in Forbes we’re now into Festival follow-up, debriefing and thinking about the next one in 2013 …
HELP us grow, improve and plan by doing a quick on-line Festival Feedback survey >>
PHOTOS & MEDIA COVERAGE
FORBES PLAYS HOST TO WORLD PREMIERE OF KATE KELLY SONG CYCLE >>
NSW town to celebrate Ned Kelly’s sister Kate >>
Writers Face Off in Poetry Slam: Listen to poet Miles Merrill >>
SEE Steve Woodhall’s Fabulous Festival Photos >>
SEE Amy Whitfield’s Fabulous Festival Photos on Facebook >>
MORE PHOTOS on the Festival’s Facebook >>
Festival Photos in the Western Advocate (Bathurst) >>
8 September: FESTIVAL POETRY SLAM WINNERS OFF TO SYDNEY >>
7 September: LANTERN PARADE LIGHTENS UP FORBES: Hundreds of people turned out to watch a spectacular lantern parade around Lake Forbes as part of the inaugural Kalari-Lachlan River Arts Festival More, including video >>
6 September 2011: FIRST RIVER ARTS FESTIVAL A WINNER says Forbes Advocate >>
2 September: DRAFT PROGRAM RiverArtsFestivalProgram_v2Sept2011
Kate Kelly Song Cycle interview on Bush Telegraph, ABC Radio National >>
29 August: RIVER ARTS FESTIVAL PREPARATION ON YOUTUBE>>
Welcome To Country Spectacular
The Festival opened with a dramatic Welcome To Country which told the story of Country from the creation of our Kalari-Lachlan River system to the present day.
Wiradjuri descendant Russell Hill, the Festival’s Minister for Indigenous Participation, and his colleagues worked with Festival director Stefo Nantsou and all the schools in Forbes to co-create an astonishing spectacle incorporating song, dance and giant lanterns of ancestral beings. More >>
WIRADJURI HERITAGE: Wiradjuri story-teller Larry Brandy from Canberra and two indigenous dance troupes from Condobolin, Googar and Lyrebirds, also presented stories of Country at the Festival.
Headline Act: The Kate Kelly Song Cycle
The Kate Kelly Song Cycle, a New Music chamber opera by composer Ross Carey and Forbes-based writer Merrill Findlay, premiered at dusk, Sunday 4 September 2011, on The Main Stage, at the inaugural Kalari-Lachlan River Arts Festival.
Melbourne soprano Sian Prior was accompanied by an ensemble of musicians consisting of Elizabeth Jones (accordion), Rachel Whealy (cello), Martin Lee (violin), and Justin Screen (clarinet), with the Forbes Shire Choir and the College For Seniors Choir. Musical director was William Moxey from Orange. >>
30 August: Kate Kelly Song Cycle composer Ross Carey, librettist Merrill Findlay, and soprano Sian Prior interviewed on Bush Telegraph, ABC Radio National >>
13 June 2011: Sian Prior discusses The KK Song Cycle with Jon Faine, 774 ABC Melbourne >>
Lantern Parade around Lake Forbes
NEW PHOTOS! We built one hundred small pyramid lanterns and a dozen large bird and fish lanterns for our Lantern Parade at our recent workshops in Forbes >>
PHOTOS AND RADIO INTERVIEWS: Ro Burns, Jyllie Jackson and others talk about the lanterns on ABC Central West. Look, Read and Listen >>
See how we made the lanterns >>
More on Jyllie Jackson’s LightnUp lanterns >>
VISIT FACEBOOK for more on the Festival workshops >>
First Weekend in September 2011
A compelling celebration of country creativity and resilience after a decade of drought
The inaugural Kalari-Lachlan River Arts Festival will unfold beside scenic Lake Forbes, central western New South Wales, on 3-4 September 2011, as the opening event for the NSW Landcare & Catchment Management Forum. It will feature the premiere of The Kate Kelly Song Cycle on the Main Stage, with hours more music from Classical to Country on six different stages. Plus a Lantern Parade, an Arts & Crafts Village, a Writers & Readers Tent, a Farmers & Landcarers’ Tent, a Bush Poets’ Breakfast, the Forbes heat of the Australian Poetry Slam, art and craft exhibitions, markets, ‘slow food’ stalls, wine tastings in the Festival Lounge, dragon boats, a bowling competition, and much much more >>
Listen to our current radio ad: 2PK_RiverArtsFestival2011_Aug-SeptAd
MAPS TO FESTIVAL SITES >>
Beyond Blue Bowls Comp
The River Arts Festival is for bowlers too! The Forbes Sports & Rec. Club [aka The Festival Lounge] proudly hosts their Beyond Blue Bowls Comp as part of the Festival program, with RAMHP pitt-stop health checks, Richmond Fellowship PHAMS, and novelty prizes >>
Poetry Slam: Write A Revolution
Writers Face Off in Poetry Slam: Listen >>
CALLING ALL POETS: The Forbes heat of the Australian Poetry SLAM 2011 will explode on The Main Stage, Sunday lunchtime, at the Festival. Sydney poet Miles Merrill will present the SLAM heat, as the guest of the Festival Writers & Readers Tent co-hosts, Central West Libraries, Central West Writers Centre in Orange, and Varuna Writers House in Katoomba. More >>
POETRY SLAM WORKSHOP: 11 am Sunday 4 Sept, @ Writers & Readers Tent on the Lake foreshore, Buck Bentick Walk, Forbes >>
Dragon Boating on Lake Forbes
Dragon boating in Forbes: read all about it in the Forbes Advocate >>
A Chinese Dragon boat will appear on Lake Forbes for the first time for the River Arts Festival and all aspiring paddlers are invited to have a go. Register for a paddle at the Forbes Dragon Boat Club’s tent beside the lake near the Festival Lounge. Revised paddle times are 8.30 am, 9.30, 10.30 and 12.30. Those who want to enjoy the water in more familiar ways can BYOB — Bring Your Own Boat. A canoe, tinny, whatever! More >>
Director Stefo Nantsou & Sydney Theatre Company
The way things are shaping up this particular arts festival may well provide a blueprint for a great many other Australian regional centres…
LISTEN to Stefo Nantsou on 2PK/ROKFM: 2PK_InterviewStefanNantsou21Jul2011
Stefo on Valley FM: 01-Track 1_InterviewWithStefoNantsou_Forbes_July2011
The River Arts Festival is directed by Stefo Nantsou, resident director with Sydney Theatre Company and founder/artistic director of Zeal Theatre. (Contact him through Zeal.) In his 30 year career Stefo has directed, written and performed in over 120 theatre productions for companies throughout Australia , Europe, North America, Asia and Africa. We gratefully acknowledge Sydney Theatre Company’s sponsorship of the Festival, which has made Stefo’s involvement possible. >>
Festival Logo & Poster
9 August 2011: The Festival poster was unveiled today by students at Red Bend Catholic College. See the photo and full story, and download your own copy of the Festival poster here >>
11 August: Our Poster launch at Red Bend made page 1 in The Forbes Advocate. Read all about it >>
27 July 2011: The Festival Cabinet is proud to launch our new logo by Sandra Luthi, a recent graphic design graduate from the University of Canberra. Sandra’s beautiful image, with its gnarled old River Red Gum silhouetted against the setting (or rising) sun, captures the very essence of our rural landscape in a way that is joyful and life affirming. More >>
Announcing Our Sponsors
17 August 2011: The variety story, Discount Dave’s of Forbes, is now generously supplying paint, brushes and buckets for a ‘spray and splatter’ arts event in the Festival Village, and staff are sourcing 1000 light plastic ponchos for us – just in case the rain we so badly needs falls on the Festival weekend! Thank you Discount Dave’s Management and Staff. More about our sponsors >>
12 August 2011: Target Country in Rankin Street Forbes has generously agreed to provide t-shirts for Festival volunteers and the Kate Kelly Song Cycle choir, and to print the Festival’s logo on them. Thank you Target.
21 July 2011, Forbes Advocate : FESTIVE FUNDING
Two of the region’s biggest employers have given their support to the Kalari-Lachlan River Arts Festival, to be held in Forbes in early September … Read on >>
19 July 2011: Today we’re formally announcing our major sponsors and project partners at a ‘photo-opp’ down on Bates Bridge. We’re also showing off some of the amazing lanterns we made last weekend, and a few trees from our Enchanted Forest. Watch the local press for more.
Opening gig for NSW State Landcare Forum
Our River Arts Festival in Forbes, 3-4 September, is the opening event for the NSW State Landcare & Catchment Management Forum to be held in the neighbouring town of Parkes the following week, 5-7 Sept. The theme for this year’s Forum, Thinking Differently: New Solutions To Old Problems, perfectly complements the Festival’s celebration of country creativity and resilience. Creativity=Thinking Differently, and we needs lots of it in the bush! Celebrate your Creativity in Forbes then head to Parkes for some Thinking Differently >>
Alternative Energy Expo
Victoria Park, 10am to 4pm, Saturday 3 September. Want to know more about reducing your energy costs and how to get involved in renewable or alternative energy? Want to make a positive difference? If the answer is Yes, then come along to the Forbes Alternative Energy Expo, which will feature local and regional businesses that service Forbes and provide the products and services you need to help you be clean and green at home. Hosted by Central NSW Councils, Lachlan CMA and Forbes Shire Council. More info >>
‘Ministers’ appointed to Festival ‘Cabinet’
Press Release 17 May 2011: The Kalari-Lachlan River Arts Festival is being organised by a ‘Cabinet’ of ‘Ministers’, each of whom is responsible for a portfolio of Festival events and activities, ranging from stage performances, busking and lantern making, to exhibitions, markets and water sports. >>
Meet the Festival ‘Cabinet’ in our ‘Kalari-Lachlan Republic of the Arts’ >>
Meet Festival Director Stefo Nantsou >>
Lachlan Valley Community Radio, 97.9 Valley FM, will broadcast live from the Festival site >>
Overwhelming support for first River Arts Festival
Forbes Advocate, 21 June 2011: Lake Forbes will provide a spectacular setting for an arts and cultural festival which aims to include the entire community this year >>
Visual artists, musicians, singers, landcarers, welfare workers, local historians, tourism operators, teachers, politicians and arts administrators from Forbes, Parkes, Orange, Dubbo, Narromine and Bathurst brunched on historic Bates Bridge, Forbes, to ‘plot the program’ for the inaugural Kalari-Lachlan River Arts Festival. More >>
THE FESTIVAL ON FACEBOOK >>
MORE INFORMATION: email riverartsfestival@yahoo.com
Page created 23 May 2011. Last updated 13 September, 2011.
Permalink: http://riverartsfestival.org.au
Copyright Merrill Findlay 2011.