BRINK Festival, described as an “ethical alternative” festival, is a collaboration of independent Western Australian artists, arts workers and environmental campaigners taking over multiple venues in Fremantle from Thursday, March 25 until Monday, March 28. In response to other arts festivals being compromised due to their sponsorship from fossil fuel corporations, BRINK Festival is an artist-led festival founded on the principles of integrity, community and preservation.
BRINK Festival encourages artists, producers, venues and audiences to create and enjoy art for an ethical and sustainable future. Treating artists fairly and refusing fossil fuel sponsorship is at the heart of BRINK.
Headlining the festival is Richard Walley’s Six Seasons – a concert presentation of six songs for each Noongar season on Sunday, March 28 at Freo.Social. This is a unique celebration of the South West and the knowledge and culture that’s existed for tens of thousands of years. The performance will feature Richard Walley on didgeridoo, with vocals by Tani Walker, Joel Davis, Natasha Eldridge and MC Flewnt, backed by the amazing Junkadelic Brass Band. The concert will be followed by a Junkadelic Dance Party.
Other highlights of BRINK Festival include Chicken Licken, a witty and lively show for families with 3-8 year old children. This critically acclaimed internationally touring performance provides a mix of barnyard adventure, comedy, puppetry and clowning to captivate audiences young and old.
Tomas Ford’s Bad Frenz Club is set to be one hell of a dance party with live electro-pop, non-stop laughs, booty-shaking dance moves and smooth-ish crooning at The Aardvark on Friday, March 26.
Yaga’s Cauldron – Wonder Tales for Grown Ups gives festival patrons the opportunity to join Fremantle storyteller and poet Jaya Penelope and her guests for a lantern-lit evening of storytelling, poetry and music for adults from a union of artists from Perth and Denmark.
Empty Sky Cosmic Cabaret is a unique evening of mystic chants, storytelling and martial arts, led by ARIA award-winning singer/songwriter Kavisha Mazzella AM.
“BRINK is resistance. We’re trying to give people the courage to live their values through this small action,” said BRINK co-organiser, Vivienne Glance. “We’d love to see other artists and events proudly declare that they are free from fossil fuel funding. We need the arts-loving public to support our festival, to show the powers that be that we want change and we need our arts to be sustainable and ethical. The majority of Australians want credible action to stop even more carbon pollution that will catastrophically affect our climate. Taking away the social licence to operate for the mega fossil fuel companies is a small but very important step.”
BRINK Festival will include a total of nine events over five days at venues all over Fremantle and will feature five new artwork premieres. The festival is supported by Creative Partnerships through the Australian Cultural Fund and the City of Fremantle and sponsored by MetroCount and LandTrack Systems.
BRINK Festival hits multiple venues in Fremantle from Thursday, March 25 until Monday, March 28. To check out the full program and to buy tickets, head to the BRINK Festival website.
